Private Collection, Sweden

Swedish

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Shown against a shiny gold background, a cleanshaven young man with carrot-orange hair stands with his head tipped sharply to rest in one hand in this vertical painting. His skin is pale with a noticeably green tint. He tips his head to our left and looks at us with brown eyes. His left cheek flushes with a bright pink circle, and four vertical white strokes indicate creases in the flesh above the cheekbone. Visible strokes in butter yellow pick out his chin, nose, wrinkles on his furrowed forehead, and the fingertip of his pinky finger, along his cheek. His long-sleeved, lapis-blue garment falls in stylized folds to his bare feet. The lighter, slate-blue mantle wraps around his torso to his knees. The long fingers of his left hand, on our right, rests against his thigh. White highlights create swirling, angular patterns in the folds of the garments. A halo around his head is punched and incised into the gold background. A network of cracks runs across the gold background, and the red layer underneath is visible in some areas.
Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes, The Mourning Saint John the Evangelist, c. 1270/1275, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.14

The Mourning Saint John the Evangelist

Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes · c. 1270/1275 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.14

Shown against a shiny gold background, a woman wearing a royal-blue mantle that covers her head and body stands with her head tipped sharply to rest in one hand in this vertical painting. Her skin is pale with a noticeably green tint. She tilts her head to our right and looks in that direction with brown eyes. Her right cheek flushes with a bright pink circle, and three horizontal pale yellow strokes indicate wrinkles at the corner of the eye closer to us. Visible strokes in butter yellow define her chin, nose, wrinkles on her furrowed forehead, and neck. A dark violet-purple cloth hangs over the shoulders of her blue mantle. A four-lobed design, perhaps a flower, is painted on her right shoulder, closer to us. The purple cloth is edged with gold, and tiny tassels with clover-shaped ends hang from the bottom hem. The blue mantle drapes over pointed, red shoes. A halo around her head is punched and incised into the gold background. A network of cracks runs across the gold background, and the red layer underneath is visible in some areas.
Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes, The Mourning Madonna, c. 1270/1275, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.13

The Mourning Madonna

Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes · c. 1270/1275 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.13

We look slightly down onto five plates, bowls, and dishes filled with oysters, raisins, prunes, figs, and sweets along with a wine glass and decanter, a stack of round, wooden boxes, and two seashells arrayed on a wooden tabletop against a dark background in this horizontal still life painting. Closest to us to our left, eleven glistening oysters on the halfshell are arranged on a round, iron-gray dish. Also close to us, to our right, a white porcelain bowl with a wide, flaring lip is painted with blue flowers, and it is piled with breads, rolls, and pastries. Two shells sit near that bowl: one shimmering, spiraling, ivory-white shell with brown marks sits to our left and an elongated, white shell with a ruffle along its length sits in the lower right corner of the panel. Between and behind these two dishes is a vessel with a pedestal foot and a wide, shallow bowl, filled with white almonds and rods that have been covered with white sugar. In the back left, a dark gray bowl holds raisins and other dried fruit along with an object that could be a slice of bread or cheese. Opposite it, a similar dish holds brown figs that more closely resemble chestnuts. To the back right, the lid of one of the three round, shallow boxes stacked along the right edge of the composition leans against the pile. The inner lid is covered with quince paste, which resembles apricot preserves. One glass goblet with a wide bowl is nearly filled with amber-colored liquid in the back left corner, beyond the dried fruit. A glass decanter, also filled with gold-colored wine, sits to our left of the pedestal-footed vessel holding the sugared sweets, at the center of the composition. The still life is brightly lit from our left.
Osias Beert the Elder, Dishes with Oysters, Fruit, and Wine, c. 1620/1624, oil on panel, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1995.32.1

Dishes with Oysters, Fruit, and Wine

Osias Beert the Elder · c. 1620/1624 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1995.32.1