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Saint Mary Salome and Her Family by Bernhard Strigel

Saint Mary Salome and Her Family

Bernhard Strigel·c. 1520/1528

Historical Context

Strigel's Saint Mary Salome and Her Family from around 1520-28 is the companion to his Saint Mary Cleophas panel, completing the Holy Kinship representation by depicting the other sister of the Virgin with her own family. The paired Holy Kinship subjects — different branches of Christ's extended family — were typically displayed together as a devotional program celebrating both sacred genealogy and the virtue of family life. Strigel's treatment shows his mature late style, developed after decades of court service under Maximilian I, combining the precision of southern German portraiture with the religious warmth appropriate to devotional family subjects.

Technical Analysis

Strigel's oil on panel matches its companion piece in precise, linear technique with rich color and careful detailing of costume and attributes, maintaining the clarity and directness characteristic of the Swabian school.

Provenance

Possibly O. Streber, Munich.[1] (Haskard Bank, Florence, and Charles Fairfax Murray, as agent, by 1900);[2] sold 1900 to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold May 1900 to Rodolphe Kann [d. 1905], Paris;[3] by descent to executors of the Kann estate: Edouard Kann, Paris; Betty Schnaffer [née Kann], Frankfurt; Martin and Eleanore [née Kann] Bromberg, Hamburg; Jacob and Mathilde [née Kann] Emden, Hamburg, and Edmond and Madeline [née Kann] Bickard See, Paris.[4] (Duveen Brothers, Paris, August, 1907);[5] purchased August 1907 by members of the Kann family, possibly Martin and Eleanore Bromberg, Hamburg.[6] Probably Dr. Max Emden, Switzerland, by 1939.[7] (Wildenstein & Co., New York, by 1939);[8] purchased February 1954 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[9] at the NGA from 1956; gift 1961 to NGA. [1] Unverified, cited by Alfred Stange, _Kritisches Verzeichnis der deutschen Tafelbelder vor Dürer_. 3 vols. (Munich, 1970), 2: 204, no. 899. [2] Letter of 24 January 1969, from Richard Kingzett, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, to Colin Eisler, in NGA curatorial files. [3] Kingzett letter of 24 January 1969 cited above. [4] Duveen stockbook in archives at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York; see letter of 23 February 1987 from Guy Bauman, Department of European Paintings to John Hand in NGA curatorial files. [5] Guy Bauman letter cited above and Edward Fowles, _Memories of Duveen Brothers_ (London, 1976), 36-43. [6] Bauman letter, cited in note 4, notes that in both the stockbook and the salesbook, the paintings are listed only as having been sold to "Kann relations." [7] Wildenstein & Co. brochure in NGA Kress files lists Bromberg and Dr. Emden as previous owners. [8] Letter of 14 September 1988 from Ay-Whang Hsia, Wildenstein & Co., to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files. [9] William E. Suida, _Paintings and Sculpture of the Samuel H. Kress Collection_. (Denver, 1954), 64, no. 28; letter of 10 November 1987 to John Hand from Louise H. Kliopov, Denver Art Museum, in NGA curatorial files (see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1875). Eisler 1977, 26, reversed the exhibition dates for this and the _Saint Mary Salome and Her Family_ also by Strigel. The bill of sale (copy in NGA curatorial files) is dated February 10, 1954, and was for a total of fourteen paintings; payments by the Foundation continued to March 1957.

See It In Person

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

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Quick Facts

Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 125 × 65.7 cm
Era
High Renaissance
Style
Northern Renaissance
Genre
Religious
Location
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
View on museum website →

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Portrait of a Woman by Bernhard Strigel

Portrait of a Woman

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Hans Roth [obverse] by Bernhard Strigel

Hans Roth [obverse]

Bernhard Strigel·1527

Hans Roth [reverse] by Bernhard Strigel

Hans Roth [reverse]

Bernhard Strigel·1527

Margarethe Vöhlin [obverse] by Bernhard Strigel

Margarethe Vöhlin [obverse]

Bernhard Strigel·1527

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