Evening star., 1951-03-18
European Art Treasures Added to National Gallery Exhibit
Continued From First PageD

tions in England, France, Belgium,
Austria, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Each separate item has been
checked for authenticity. and each
is In perfect condition. Mr.. Fin
ley, opening the exhibition, said:
In looking back over what has
been accomplished by Mr.. Kress
and his brother and the other
trustees of the Kress Foundation,
their achievement seems almost
incredible to any one who knows
the difficulties inherent in such
an undertaking"
The principal sculptured pieces
are displayed in the East Garden
Court of the gallery, and the
newly purchased paintings fill u
new rooms with $4,000 square feet
of wall space. DR.. William E.
Suida wrote the catalogue of the
paintings. Charles Seymour that
of the works of sculpture and
Perry B. Cott that of the small
bronzes, medals. plaquettes. etc.
Start of New Display.
A Madonna and Child with Two
Angels, believed to have been
created by the School of Cimabue
at Florence late in the 18th CEN
tury, is placed at the start of
the new Kress display. II is a
work which may be all that still
exists of much larger compo-
sition taken to pieces long ago.
Four lateral panels representing
the Virgin. st. Francis. st. John
the Baptist and st. John the
Evangelist, attributed to Giotto
and his assistants and dated prior
to 1887. are. next in order. they
belong with central panel en-
titled Christ Blessing" acquired
by Mr.. Kress in 1947 and now are
reunited with it.
Also from Giotto's school has
come an impressive triptych of
the Crucifixion with scenes from
the Passion and from the career
Of st. John the Baptist. 1t is
primitive but undeniably convinc-
ing, especially for its mourners
at the foot of the Cross-as realis-
tic as photographs. Bernardo
Daddi's Madonna and Child En-
throned" is Florentine gem which
formerly was in the monastery OF
Vallombrosa in Tuscany.
Next Treasure Offered.
Two great painters-Fra Gio-
vanni Angelica and Fra FilippoI
Lippi-of Florence in the pei
riod between 1406 and 1859 were
responsible for the next treasure
offered. 1t is an Alteration of the
Magi, beautifully organized In al
garland effect. The Virgin and
Child are held to be Fra Angeli-
cos. In 1892, the year Columbus
discovered America, this was a
Medici property.
Picture No. 10 in the new Kress
ensemble is a strangely modern
istic Madonna and Child with st.
Francis, possibly by Paola Uccello,
who f1ourished in Florence about
1440.
The Obsequies of st. Anthony
Abbot represents one panel OF a
series of eight by painter de-
scribed as the Master of the Os-
servanZa Altarpiece, a Sienese con-
temporary of Sassetta often con-
fused with him.
Certain to Be Popular.
One of the pictures certain to
be exceptionally popular is Ben
ozzo Gozzoli's Dance of Salome
from st. Marco. Florence, In
which the story is worked out with
great forcefulness.
The Sandro Botticelli compost
ton in the new Kress catalogue
is Virgin Adoring Her Child
which formerly was attributed to
Fra Filippo Lippi. 1t came from
the Paravey collection, Paris, and
shows the Virgin as a very young
mother.
Next appears one Of the great
est treasures of the whole exhibit
tion-The Coronation Of the Vlr-
gin by Domenico Ghirlandaio of
Florence 0449-1494. Both the
Virgin and the Christ are exquis-
itely beautiful productions, and
the cherubim really look like an
gelic babies.
Four Portions of Predella.
Four portions of a predella by
Benvenuto di Giovanni of Siena
(1436?-1518) were purchased by
Mr.. Kress to join with part
which he gave the National Gal
lery in 1939 They illustrate the
Passion of Our Lord-small but
immensely interesting dramatiza-
tions of the central theme Of
Christianity.
A mystical Interpretation of the
infant Christ in the act Of pro-
nouncing a blessing as though He
were q priest of adult growth fol-
lows. 1t is by Andrea Mantegna
Of Padua Q431-1506) and has
been studied under X-rays, So
that its strong geometrical basis
has been appreciated as it might
not be otherwise. Mantegna like
wise is represented by a typical
portrait of a mana painting
which came to Mr.. Kress from
Hungary. st. Anthony Abbot by
francesca Benaglio, an artist
whose surviving pictures are rare,
follows in sequence.
Delicate and Poetic.
Four delicate and poetic por-
tions of a dismembered polyptych
by Cosimo Tura Q430-1495 be-
long to the School of Ferrara.
They show the Annunciate Virgin,
the Archangel Gabriel, st. Francis
and Bishop st. Maurelius.
Next in order is mystery por-
trait. supposed to be an Emilian
artist of the 18th century. The
subject is a person of Importance,
obviously. His bearing is princely
and he may have been one of the
lords of Modena. But nobody can|
be sure. The same observation ap-
plies with equal logic to portrait
by Filippo Mazzola of Parma