The Assumption of the Virgin with St. Thomas and Two Donors (Ser Palamedes and his Son Matthew) (Primary Title)
Andrea di Bartolo, Italian, active by 1389, died 1428 (Artist)
In this imposing, majestic painting, Andrea di Bartolo depicts the miraculous Assumption of the Virgin Mary to heaven, aided by angels three days after her death. Here, she has dropped her sash to the Apostle Thomas (who doubted the Resurrection of Christ) as proof of the miracle he is witnessing.
According to the long Latin inscription on the base, Dominica, a woman from Urbino, commissioned the painting to commemorate the souls of her deceased husband, Ser Palamedes, and their son, Matthew. Approximately, father and son are shown kneeling in prayer on either side of the apostle.
The painting, one of only four signed pictures by this artist, once formed the center panel of an altarpiece. Andrea’s sensitivity delineated figures, subtle colors, and harmonious composition are characteristics of 14th-century Sienese painting.
inscribed at bottom of panel: Andreas Bartoli di Magistri Fredi de Senis pinxit. Hoc opus fecit fiere Dominica honesta uxor quondam Ser Palamides de Urbino pro animabus dicti viri sui et Mathei filii eorundum
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Barriault, Anne with Kay M. Davidson. Selections from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Charlottesville, Va., and London: University of Virginia Press, 2007. (pp. 202-203).
Schmidt, Victor M. Painted Piety: Panel Paintings for Personal Devotion in Tuscany, 1250-1400, Florence: Centro di, 2005. (Pp. 109, 222-223, 246, fig. 58).
Strehlke, Carl Brandon. Italian Paintings 1250-1450 in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, Pa.: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004. (P. 37).
Fleith, Barbara. “La Vierge, L’Apôtre Thomas et Pierre de Luxembourg,” Annesci: The Jouranl of Société des amis du vieil Annecy (December 2001): 225-227, fig. 9.
Suffield, Bruce Hardin. “Andrea di Bartolo’s Madonna and Child: Investigations of the Materials, Techniques, and Original Effects,” Record of the Princeton University Art Museum, vol. 59, nos. 1/2 (2000): 17-32, fig. 14.
Barriault, Anne. Selections: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1997. (P. 53).
Ruth Latter, “Angels Appeared on Canvas Throughout Ages,” Charlottesville Daily Progress, December 18, 1997, p. D-3, b&w ill.
Published on the box of "Renaissance Indoor/Outdoor Theme Lights” by G.K.I., 1996.
Pirovano, Carlo, ed. La pittura nel Veneto: Il Trecento. Milan: Electa, 1993. (Pp. 495-499, 520, fig. 659).
Freuler, Gaudenz. “Andrea di Bartolo, Fra Tommaso d’Antonio Caffarini, and Sienese Dominicans in Venice,” Art Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 4 (December 1987): 570, 578, 580, 582-584, fig. 13.
Maderna, Valentina. Il polittico di Andrea di Bartolo a Brera. Florence: Cantini, 1986. (Pp. 9, 12 note 1, 16).
Brera: Notizie della Pinaoteca, no. 12 (1985-1986): unpaginated (fourth page).
Near, Pinkney. “European Paintings and Drawings: The Williams Collection and Fund,” Apollo, vol. CXXII, no. 286 (1985): 38, fig. 1.
Gilbert, Creighton E. “Tuscan Observants and Painters in Venice, ca. 1400.” In Interpretazioni Veneziani: Studi di storia dell’arte in onore di Michelangelo Muraro, ed.
David Rosand. Venice: Arsenale, 1984. (Pp. 116-117, p. 119 note 41, suggests that the painting originates from Fano or a surrounding town since by the time of its first record in 1871 with a Fanese family, there was no interest in the collection of such paintings and the donor on the inscription is recorded as native of Urbino, only 45 km from Fano).
Brown, Howard M. “A Corpus of Trecento Musical Pictures with Musical Subject Matter, Part I,” Imago Musicae, vol. 1 (1984): 206-207.
Sutton, Denys. “Robert Langton Douglas: Part II,” Apollo, vol. CIX, no. 207 (May 1979): 359-360, no. 20.
Frinta, Mojmir. “Drawing the net closer: the case of Icilio Federico Joni, painter of antique pictures,” Pantheon, vol. 3 (1982): 217-224 (on p. 224 notes that the punchmarks of the frame suggest that it was manufactured by Icilio Federico Joni).
Near, Pinkney. Treasures in the Virginia Museum. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1974. (Pp. 68-69).
Fredericksen, Burton B. and Zeri, Federico. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972. (Pp. 6, 629).
Van Os, Hendrick W. “Andrea di Bartolo’s Assumption of the Virgin,” Arts in Virgnia (Winter 1971): 3-11 (as from the 1370s).
Van Os, Hendrick W. Marias Demut und Verherrlichung in der Sienesischen Malerei: 1300-1450. ‘s-Gravenhagen: Ministerie van Cultuur, 1969. (Pp. 166, 171, 187-188, figs. 128, 129).
Berenson, Bernard. Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance. London: Phaidon, 1970. (Pp. 39-40).
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central and North Italian Schools. London: Phaidon, 1968. (Vol. 1, p. 7, vol. II, plate 423).
European Art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1966. (Cat. 5, p. 12).
The Art Quarterly, Autumn 1954, p. 295.
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del Rinascimento. Milan: Hoepli, 1936. (P. 8).
Edgell, George Harold. A History of Sienese Painting, New York: Dial Press, 1932. (Pp. 169-170).
DeWald, Ernest T. Art Studies (1932): 48.
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932. (P. 9).
Berenson, Bernard. “Lost Sienese Trecento Paintings,” International Studio (January 1931): 31.
Berenson, Bernard. “Quadri senza casa. Il Trecento senese,” Dedalo (November 1930): 343.
Beenken, Hermann. “Das Urbild der Sienesischen Assuntadarstellungen im XIV und XV Jahrundert,” Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst (1928): 74-76.
Van Marle, Raimond. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. The Hague: Nijshoff, 1924. (Vol. 2, pp. 572-574).
DeWald, Ernest T. “The Master of the Ovile Madonna,” Art Studies (1923): 48, 54, illus.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Some Sienese Paintings in American Collections,” Art in America (October 1920): 292.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Dipinti senesi sconosciuti o indediti,” Rassegna d’arte, vol. 1 (1914): 100.
Douglas, R. Langton. Histoire de Sienne. Paris: Renouard H. Laurens, 1914. (Pp. 466-471, illus).
Vavasour-Elder, Irene. “Dipinti poco conosciuti di Maestro Fredi,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 93.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Una Madonna di Andrea di Bartolo,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 84-85.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Alcuni appunti sulla Galleria Nazionale di Siena,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 3-9.
Crowe, John A. and Cavalcaselle, Giovanni Battista. A History of Painting in Italy, vol. 3 (1908): 134.
Berenson, Bernard. “Le pitture italiane nella raccolta Yerkes,” Rassegna d’arte, vol. 6 (1906): 3.
“Pitture senesi in America,” Rassegna d’arte senese (1905): 153.
Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Esq., Boston: A. W. Elston, 1904. (lot 1).
Schubring, Paul. Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft, vol. XXVII (1904): 477.
Förster, Ernst. “Andrea di Bartolo di Maestro Fredi,” Jarbucher fur Kunstwissenschaft, Leipzig, vol. 6 (1873): 138-139.
De Nicola, Giacomo. “Andrea di Bartolo,” in Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kuenstler, 1907. (Vol. 1, 449).
Schmidt, Victor M. Painted Piety: Panel Paintings for Personal Devotion in Tuscany, 1250-1400, Florence: Centro di, 2005. (Pp. 109, 222-223, 246, fig. 58).
Strehlke, Carl Brandon. Italian Paintings 1250-1450 in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, Pa.: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004. (P. 37).
Fleith, Barbara. “La Vierge, L’Apôtre Thomas et Pierre de Luxembourg,” Annesci: The Jouranl of Société des amis du vieil Annecy (December 2001): 225-227, fig. 9.
Suffield, Bruce Hardin. “Andrea di Bartolo’s Madonna and Child: Investigations of the Materials, Techniques, and Original Effects,” Record of the Princeton University Art Museum, vol. 59, nos. 1/2 (2000): 17-32, fig. 14.
Barriault, Anne. Selections: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1997. (P. 53).
Ruth Latter, “Angels Appeared on Canvas Throughout Ages,” Charlottesville Daily Progress, December 18, 1997, p. D-3, b&w ill.
Published on the box of "Renaissance Indoor/Outdoor Theme Lights” by G.K.I., 1996.
Pirovano, Carlo, ed. La pittura nel Veneto: Il Trecento. Milan: Electa, 1993. (Pp. 495-499, 520, fig. 659).
Freuler, Gaudenz. “Andrea di Bartolo, Fra Tommaso d’Antonio Caffarini, and Sienese Dominicans in Venice,” Art Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 4 (December 1987): 570, 578, 580, 582-584, fig. 13.
Maderna, Valentina. Il polittico di Andrea di Bartolo a Brera. Florence: Cantini, 1986. (Pp. 9, 12 note 1, 16).
Brera: Notizie della Pinaoteca, no. 12 (1985-1986): unpaginated (fourth page).
Near, Pinkney. “European Paintings and Drawings: The Williams Collection and Fund,” Apollo, vol. CXXII, no. 286 (1985): 38, fig. 1.
Gilbert, Creighton E. “Tuscan Observants and Painters in Venice, ca. 1400.” In Interpretazioni Veneziani: Studi di storia dell’arte in onore di Michelangelo Muraro, ed.
David Rosand. Venice: Arsenale, 1984. (Pp. 116-117, p. 119 note 41, suggests that the painting originates from Fano or a surrounding town since by the time of its first record in 1871 with a Fanese family, there was no interest in the collection of such paintings and the donor on the inscription is recorded as native of Urbino, only 45 km from Fano).
Brown, Howard M. “A Corpus of Trecento Musical Pictures with Musical Subject Matter, Part I,” Imago Musicae, vol. 1 (1984): 206-207.
Sutton, Denys. “Robert Langton Douglas: Part II,” Apollo, vol. CIX, no. 207 (May 1979): 359-360, no. 20.
Frinta, Mojmir. “Drawing the net closer: the case of Icilio Federico Joni, painter of antique pictures,” Pantheon, vol. 3 (1982): 217-224 (on p. 224 notes that the punchmarks of the frame suggest that it was manufactured by Icilio Federico Joni).
Near, Pinkney. Treasures in the Virginia Museum. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1974. (Pp. 68-69).
Fredericksen, Burton B. and Zeri, Federico. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972. (Pp. 6, 629).
Van Os, Hendrick W. “Andrea di Bartolo’s Assumption of the Virgin,” Arts in Virgnia (Winter 1971): 3-11 (as from the 1370s).
Van Os, Hendrick W. Marias Demut und Verherrlichung in der Sienesischen Malerei: 1300-1450. ‘s-Gravenhagen: Ministerie van Cultuur, 1969. (Pp. 166, 171, 187-188, figs. 128, 129).
Berenson, Bernard. Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance. London: Phaidon, 1970. (Pp. 39-40).
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central and North Italian Schools. London: Phaidon, 1968. (Vol. 1, p. 7, vol. II, plate 423).
European Art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1966. (Cat. 5, p. 12).
The Art Quarterly, Autumn 1954, p. 295.
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del Rinascimento. Milan: Hoepli, 1936. (P. 8).
Edgell, George Harold. A History of Sienese Painting, New York: Dial Press, 1932. (Pp. 169-170).
DeWald, Ernest T. Art Studies (1932): 48.
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932. (P. 9).
Berenson, Bernard. “Lost Sienese Trecento Paintings,” International Studio (January 1931): 31.
Berenson, Bernard. “Quadri senza casa. Il Trecento senese,” Dedalo (November 1930): 343.
Beenken, Hermann. “Das Urbild der Sienesischen Assuntadarstellungen im XIV und XV Jahrundert,” Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst (1928): 74-76.
Van Marle, Raimond. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. The Hague: Nijshoff, 1924. (Vol. 2, pp. 572-574).
DeWald, Ernest T. “The Master of the Ovile Madonna,” Art Studies (1923): 48, 54, illus.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Some Sienese Paintings in American Collections,” Art in America (October 1920): 292.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Dipinti senesi sconosciuti o indediti,” Rassegna d’arte, vol. 1 (1914): 100.
Douglas, R. Langton. Histoire de Sienne. Paris: Renouard H. Laurens, 1914. (Pp. 466-471, illus).
Vavasour-Elder, Irene. “Dipinti poco conosciuti di Maestro Fredi,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 93.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Una Madonna di Andrea di Bartolo,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 84-85.
Perkins, F. Mason. “Alcuni appunti sulla Galleria Nazionale di Siena,” Rassegna d’arte senese, vol. 4 (1908): 3-9.
Crowe, John A. and Cavalcaselle, Giovanni Battista. A History of Painting in Italy, vol. 3 (1908): 134.
Berenson, Bernard. “Le pitture italiane nella raccolta Yerkes,” Rassegna d’arte, vol. 6 (1906): 3.
“Pitture senesi in America,” Rassegna d’arte senese (1905): 153.
Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of Charles T. Yerkes, Esq., Boston: A. W. Elston, 1904. (lot 1).
Schubring, Paul. Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft, vol. XXVII (1904): 477.
Förster, Ernst. “Andrea di Bartolo di Maestro Fredi,” Jarbucher fur Kunstwissenschaft, Leipzig, vol. 6 (1873): 138-139.
De Nicola, Giacomo. “Andrea di Bartolo,” in Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kuenstler, 1907. (Vol. 1, 449).
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