Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, and Dominic and a Dominican Supplicant

Description

In 1260 Gerard de Frachet, an early chronicler of the Dominican order, noted that the friars had “in their cells . . . before their eyes images of Mary and her crucified son, so that while reading, praying, and sleeping they could look upon them and be looked upon by them, with eyes of compassion.” This image of the Virgin and Child with saints would have served such a purpose. A Dominican friar kneels before the enthroned Virgin, just below the figure of Saint Dominic, who intercedes on the friar’s behalf. Traces of hinges on the left edge suggest that the piece was part of diptych, probably paired with a painting of the Crucifixion.

Provenance

Bellandi or Bellanti collection, Siena [according to Ramboux 1862; see Wallraf-Richartz-Museum 1998, p. 583, no. 300]; sold to Johann Anton Ramboux, Cologne (died 1866), probably by 1832-42 [Wallraf-Richartz-Museum 1998, p. 583, no. 300]. Leopold Goldschmidt, Paris; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 14, 16-17, 1898, no. 68, as School of Giotto for Fr 650 [according to annotated copy of sale catalogue at the Getty Research Center, Los Angeles]. Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago, probably by 1904 [see Lloyd 1993, p. 261, n. 3]; by descent to his wife Carrie Hutchinson Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, 1932 [Last Will and Testament of Martin A. Ryerson, Died August 11, 1932, copy in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1937.