page_title: Henry Walters
section_title: Art collection
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Walters / Art collection
caption_attribution_description: English: Saint Andrew, holding a scroll, looks intently to his left, indicating that the panel once may have formed part of a group of icons with Christ at the center. It may have been placed on the upper tier of an "iconostasis," the screen dividing the sanctuary from the nave in an Orthodox Church. The color scheme of the icon is unusual in its use of extremely bright colors for the saint's robe and a mustard yellow - instead of gold - for the background.
context_page_description: Henry Walters was noted as an art collector and philanthropist, a founder of the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, which he donated to the city in his 1931 will for the benefit of the public. From the late 19th century, Walters lived most of the time in New York City, where from 1903 on, he served on the executive committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue. He was selected as second vice president in 1913, a position he held until his death.
  Like his father William Thompson Walters, he was a businessman in the railroad industry, serving as president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which had been established by his father.
context_section_description: When his father died in 1894, he bequeathed his collection to Henry Walters, who greatly expanded the scope of acquisitions. He purchased the contents of a palace in Rome that contained over 1,700 pieces. In September 1900, Henry bought the three houses adjoining the property owned by his father in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, in order to house and display the full collection. He had the site designed and adapted as a palazzo-style building, which opened to the public in 1909 as the Walters Art Gallery.
  Walters died in 1931, leaving the building and its contents to the mayor and city council of Baltimore "for the benefit of the public." The Walters Art Museum opened its doors for the first time as a public institution on November 3, 1934.
  Walters also donated four public bath houses to the City of Baltimore., Walters Bath No. 2 was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
caption: Saint Andrew, Greek icon, 14th century. Purchased by Henry Walters, 1930.
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