Provenance
Cav. Antonio Piccolomini Bellanti, Siena, by 1811; by inheritance 1895 to his daughter, Signora Ciaccheri, Siena; presumably by whom sold 1895 to (Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919], London and Florence); sold November 1895 to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, stock no. 7418); sold November 1895 to George M. Salting [1835-1909], London; sold September 1903 back to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, stock no. 1005) in joint ownership with (Charles Fairfax Murray); sold February 1905 to William Newall.[1] (Trotti et Cie., Paris); sold 1911 to Arthur Sanderson, Edinburgh; (Sanderson sale, Knight, Frank, and Rutley, London, 14-16 June 1911, 3rd day, no. 621, as _Petrarch's Laura_); purchased by (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London) for Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex;[2] sold 1927 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold 1937 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] Agnew Stock Book no. 8, 1891-1898, pp. 174-175; no. 9, 1898 - 1904, pp. 306-307; no. 10, 1904-1933, pp. 234-235, National Gallery London reference no. NGA 27/1/1/8-10.
[2] Robert Henry Benson's notes on the painting's history (transcript provided in 1976 by his grandson, Peter Wake, and in NGA curatorial files) read in part: "It is believed that an emissary of [Dr.] Boda's tried to buy it but Agnew sold it to Trotti in Paris and Trotti sold it (I was told)...to Arthur Sanderson, then a prosperous distiller in Edinburgh. Sanderson lost money and sent it...for sale by auction. I gave Agnews a commission to buy it..."
[3] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1725.
Accession Number
1939.1.353
Medium
oil on poplar panel
Dimensions
painted surface: 58.1 x 43.2 cm (22 7/8 x 17 in.) | overall: 60 x 45 cm (23 5/8 x 17 11/16 in.) | framed: 75.6 x 59.7 x 8.3 cm (29 3/4 x 23 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Samuel H. Kress Collection