The Blessing Christ, the Mourning Virgin, the Mourning St. John the Evangelist
(Medieval Europe )
These fragments originally adorned a monumental crucifix. The Blessing Christ would have appeared at the top, while Mary and John the Evangelist would have occupied the left and right ends of the cross's horizontal beam. Pietro da Rimini imitated the naturalistic figural style of Giotto, the famed Florentine painter, but also excelled at combining dazzling colors and stylized expressions for dramatic effect. The exaggerated facial features of Pietro da Rimini's figures ensured that their expressions would be comprehensible even when suspended high above the floor. In a recent innovation that demanded the worshiper's imagination, the open mouths of Mary and St. John suggest the sound of their lamentation.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 6, 7, and 8, as Cimabue; 1897 catalogue: no. 39, as Giotto]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
Examination | examined for condition | |
Treatment | cleaned; other | |
1/6/1951 | Treatment | cleaned; examined for condition; loss compensation; other; varnish removed or reduced |
1/6/1951 | Treatment | examined for condition; inpainted; other; varnish removed or reduced |
1/6/1951 | Treatment | examined for condition; other; varnish removed or reduced; x-ray |
4/15/1987 | Examination | examined for condition; other |
5/1/1987 | Treatment | inpainted; loss compensation; other |
11/1/2001 | Examination | examined for condition |
11/13/2001 | Treatment | examined for condition; other; surface cleaned; varnish removed or reduced |
1/1/2002 | Treatment | other |
1/7/2003 | Examination | cleaned; examined for condition; other; varnish removed or reduced |
Geographies
Italy, Rimini (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Christ painted surface H: 17 13/16 x W: 16 1/4 x D: 1 1/2 in. (45.3 x 41.2 x 3.8 cm); The Virgin painted surface H: 17 3/16 x W: 15 3/4 x D: 1 1/4 in. (43.7 x 40 x 3.2 cm); St. John painted surface H: 17 7/8 x W: 15 13/16 x D: 1 1/2 in. (45.4 x 40.2 x 3.8 cm)
Overall: 17 13/16 x 16 3/16 in. (45.24 x 41.12 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.634