Evening star., 1944-11-05


judgment highly esteemed by con-
noisseurs of art he~e and abroad
In assembling his collections he has
had the cooperation of leading
experts in Italy and the Italian
government. Back of this, however,
have been his real passion for Italian
art and power of discrimination.
For years Mr.. Kress has been
quietly assembling little collections
of Italian art for circulation among
the small museums of this country,
to not few of which he has mod
esty made gifts.
Thus with him the habit of shar-
ing has undoubtedly been formed.
Quite naturally these little adven-
lures in pleasure sharing led the
collector and benefactor into the
broader field.
Over T,vo Million Visitors
During the last fiscal year more
than 100000 visitors have passed
through the portals of our National
Gallery of Art.
This most recent gift from this
ardent collector and the KreSS
Foundation was proffered and ac-
ceted by the trustees of the National
Gallery of Art some months ago
but announcement withheld until
wartime conditions would permit
safe delivery and comparatively
early display. The middle of last
month, on the best advice, paint
ings and sculpture belonging to the
National Gallery which had been
removed because of bombing hazard,
and stored at Biltmore, were re-
turned and for the most part re-
hung and replaced. Among these
much-misused absentees rewelcomed
were some of the Italian paintings
and sculpture lent by Mr.. Kress and
now given-permanent possessions
henceforth.
World Famous Masterpieces
There are world famous Italian
paintings and sculpture in both the
Mellon and Widener collections now
the property of the National Gal
lery. These supplement and are in
turn supplemented by works includ-
ed in the several Kress gifts. Thus
emphasis is given to the breadth
and many-sidedness of genius. For
example, in the Mellon collection are
three famous paintings by Raphael
the Alba" and the "Cowper" Ma
donnas, and the fascinating little
"St. George and the Dragon to
which the Kress collection has added
the world famous but utterly differ
ent portrait of Bindo Altoviti, for
merly of the Alte Pinakothek, Mu-
mich. In the same way works by
Bellini in the Kress collection take
nothing from but rather add to the
of the Feast of the
Gods" by the same great master in
the Widener gift.
An interesting and important fea-
ture of the recent Kress gift is a |
series of fresco paintings, nine in
number, by Bernardino Luini, illus
trating the Legend of Cephalus,"
and, incidentally, the methods used
by mural painters in those far-off
days. These are to be placed in a
separate room and as far as pos
sible given a setting similar to that
in the Villa Pelucca from whence
they came.
Rare BoffceM
Through the Kress gift the Ma
tional Gallery of Art has acquired
a sixth painting by Botticelli, a
Madonna and Child" which repre-
sentation Is greater than that of
any museum except the Uffizi, Flor
ence, before the German occupation,
and the National Gallery, London.
Mention should also be made of a
rare and lovely "Annunciation" by
Fra Filippo Lippi and a lovely Cor
onation of the Virgin" by Filipino
Lippi.
In the original Kress gift was
painting of the interior of the
Pantheon, Rome, by Giovanni Pa
mini, q Roman artist of the early
18th century, which, because of It's
technical excellence and also re-
semblance to the rotunda of the
building in which 1t is given place,
has attracted special attention from
visitors. An exterior of this same
famous building by the same artist
has now been added.
Fine as are the paintings in this
collection, even more notable, per-
haps. and certainly less familiar,
are the works In sculpture, particu-
larly those produced during the Rem
aissance In Florence. In these