Evening star., 1938-12-25
By Leila Mechlin.

Christmas, falling this year on
Sunday, it seems appropriate that
today, in these columns. attention
should be called to the influence the
event commemorated has had upon
art, and note made of the works of
art in Washington inspired by this
theme.
In the whole history of painting
from pre-Renaissance days to the
present, most outstanding, in both
merit and market value, are those
works which set before us, rever-
emily and beautifully, the Christ
Child and His Mother. This is no
exaegeration. The Sistine Ma
donna by Raphael his Madonna
of the Chair and his Alba Ma
donna" are, without question,
among the most famous paintings
In the world. The last was pur-
chased by Mr.. Andrew w. Mellon
from the Hermitage Gallery of Rus
sia for $1,l66, 400, and he was con-
graduated by collectors for having
secured it at that figure, priceless
as is it considered. On their paint
ings of the Madonna and Child rest
the great regulations of such old
masters as Bottlcelli, Perugino,
Filippo Lippi, Memling, Van Eyck
and others.
The same is true of certain sculp-
tors of these earlier days. The birth
OF Christ and the incidents con-
nected with it, such as the An
nunciation, the alteration of the
Shepherds, the worship of the Magi,
the Holy Infant and his Mother
guarded by angels or accompanied
by saints, furnished material for
countless paintings purposed to tell,
to ali the world, the story as it had
never been told before. and are tell
ing 1t still with equal force and sig
niflcance. AS to the merit of these
works there is no disagreement.
Fortunate are we in having some
of the most famous and best here in
Washington.
When three days before Christ
mas, December %, 1936-Mr. Mellon
offered, in letter to the President
of the United States, to give to the
people of this country a National
Gallery of Art, which would rank
with other great galleries of the
world, and, as nucleus, the collec-
tion which, with loving care and
large cost he had assembled during
a considerable number of years,
that collection comprised no less
than 20 famous canvases by the
greatest masters of all time repre-
senting the Madonna and Child
the "Annunciation, the Nativity, -
"Rest in Flight" etc. Before two
years are gone these will be on pub
lie exhibition in the great building
of the National Gallery of Art now
60 rapidly taking tangible form.
Many are already familiar through
reproduction. From the Hermitage
collection Mr.. Mellon acquired not
only the Alba Madonna by
Raphael, but also the Alteration of
the Magi." by Botticelli, for which
he paid 1928 $50. From the Desbor-
ough collection he obtained, at even
higher price, the lovely "Niccolini," ="
Or "Cowper' Madonna, by Raphael.
What could be more exquisite than
the blue-robed Madonna holding
the Babe in her lap, as painted by
FRA Angelica, which is included in
this magnificent collection, unless it
may be works which will eventually
hang with it, such as the Petrus
Christus Nativity" or the Memling
"Virgin and Child and Two Angels. :"
The list, in addition to the works
already mentioned reads as follows:
madonna and Child With Infant
Saint John in Landscape" by Titan;
madonna and Child" by Botticelli; ;
madonna and Child,' by Antonello
di Messina; The Virgin Enthroned," 4"
a triptych by Allegretto Nuzi; "Vir-
gin and Child" by Masaccio; Virgin
and Child With Angels" by Mateo
di Giovanni; Madonna and Child
With Saints" by Gina da Conegli-
ano; Madonna and Child With
Angel" by Filippo Lippi; Virgin
and Child" by Lippo Memmi
Alteration of the Magi," by Clio
vanni di Paolo; The Annunciation, "
by Jan Van Eyck, and Rest During
Flight in Egypt" by Gerard David.
To this imposing list must be added
certain woths in sculpture-a Ma
donna and Child and Angels" by
Desiderio da Settignano; Madonna
and Child" by Mino da Fiesole, and
no less. than three Virgin and
Child" panels by Luca della Robbia.