Deborah Elvira at TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

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17th Century, Castile, Deborah Elvira, Devotional Pendant, Double Reliquary Pendant, first half of the 17th Century, Leon or Santiago de Compostela, Magic belt, Our Lady of Carmen, Rosary with medal showing the Immaculate Conception, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Dominic, Saint Peter of Verona, Spain, TEFAF 2015 Antiques, with 10th- to 19th-century elements

Devotional Pendant. Gold, enamel, 5.5 x 4 cm. Spain, first half of the 17th century. Deborah Elvira (stand 267) – TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

Depicting Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena.

Double Reliquary Pendant. Tortoise shell, silver, rock crystal, paper, bone and stone. Open 7.5 x 11.5 cm. Spain, 17th century. Deborah Elvira (stand 267) – TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

Depicting Saint Peter of Verona and Our Lady of Carmen

Magic belt. Jet, silver, textile, enamel, rock crystal. Length 73 cm. Castile, 17th century, with 10th- to 19th-century elements. Deborah Elvira (stand 267) – TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

A magic belt is an amulet used to protect a child against the evil eye and disease. It was created with the magic elements available and enriched through presents and heirlooms, including a wide variety of charms. However, fixed elements such as the fig (amulet in the shape of a hand), the chestnut and some magic material (jet, coral, crystal) were always present. In 16th- and 17th-century Spain, they were widely spread among all social classes and frequently illustrated in royal paintings (Ana Mauricia of Austria in Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid and the Infanta María Ana in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, both painted by Pantoja de la Cruz in 1602 and 1607 respectively, are wearing belts with jet). Towards the 19th century, these amulets were relegated to rural areas and associated with folk superstition: the majority of them were dismounted but some have survived in churches or convents, where they were presented to the image of the Virgin, probably as an ex voto.

In the characteristic syncretic way the amulets were used in Spain since medieval times, our piece consists of 14th- century Islamic textile, enriched with 28 silver coins (the majority from Al Andalus, 10th -14th century, and two foreign additions from the 18th and 19th century). Attached are three pendants: a chestnut with little figs and a Virgin medal, a 17th century crystal skull with an end of a rosary and memento mori, and a jet fig. All are suspended by jet rosary beads, carved with masculine and feminine faces with Death in the back. The representation of the left hand and the carving of the crescent are associated with femininity and the belt was indeed given to a virgin in the church of Herrera de Pisuerga (Castile), where it was acquired in 1945.

This piece has not been restored, however the embellishment with the 19th century clasps and medal, the two Moroccan coins and the thread used to secure some of them, suggest that it was repaired sometime towards the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century, before being offered to the virgin.

Provenance: Acquiered in Herrera de Pisuerga (Palencia), 1945; Subastas Segre, 2005; Private collection, where?

Literature: Rosa Rodríguez de Castro, Ana de Toro Boels, Subasta de Amuletos y Joyas Populares, Segre, 2005, p. 52-53

Rosary with medal showing the Immaculate Conception. Jet, silver. Lenght 62 cm. Diameter medal 7 cm. Leon or Santiago de Compostela, 17th century. Deborah Elvira (stand 267) – TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

Provenance: Collection Bosch

Deborah Elvira. Director: Deborah Elvira. European historic jewellery and works of art.

The gallery is situated in a charming little town in the Mediterranean coast, between Barcelona and Valencia. We deal in Spanish and European historic jewellery, from early Medieval to the 18th century, with a special attention to the Spanish Golden Age, the 17th C.

Major exhibition examining the Italian Renaissance through arts patronage by rival religious orders opens

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Abbey Bible, Domenico Beccafumi, Francesco da Rimini, Giovanni di Paolo, Jacopo Bassano, Madonna and Child with Saint Francis, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Clare, Sassetta

Sassetta. The Procession to Calvary, 1437–44. Tempera on poplar panel, 19 1/8 x 25 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 24.94

NASHVILLE, TN.- The Frist Center for the Visual Arts presents Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy, a groundbreaking exhibition of Italian art produced between 1250 and 1550. Conceived and organized by Frist Center Curator and Renaissance art historian Trinita Kennedy, it explores the significant role of the Dominicans and Franciscans in the revival of the arts that began in Italy in the thirteenth century and demonstrates how these religious orders fueled the creation of some of the most splendid works of Italian Renaissance art and architecture.

Francesco da Rimini (Master of the Blessed Clare of Rimini). The Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1340. Tempera on wood, 22 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 61.018.000.

Sanctity Pictured is the first major exhibition to examine the art of the two great orders together during the period in which they were at the height of their power in Italy and had leading artists in their service. Their construction of large churches across Italy, such as San Francesco in Assisi, San Domenico in Bologna, and Santa Croce in Florence, created a tremendous demand for art to fill them, and commissions for altarpieces, crucifixes, frescoes, illuminated manuscripts, and marble tombs followed. The exhibition tells a wonderfully accessible yet surprisingly underreported story of the rivalry between the Dominicans and Franciscans that is most plainly evident in the iconography of their art and the competing sizes of churches that served as outward signs of their popularity and power.

Madonna and Child with Saint Francis, ca. 1285. Tempera on wood, 27 x 20 1/4 in. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, R.T. Miller Jr. Fund, 1945.9

“Unlike the medieval monastic orders, such as the Benedictines, which cloistered themselves in the countryside and lived off the income from their property, the Dominicans and Franciscans were city-dwelling mendicant orders—those that depend directly on charity for their livelihood—and interacted with laity,” says Frist Center Curator Trinita Kennedy. “Art became central to their missions and it was through frescoes, illuminated manuscripts, panel paintings, prints, and sculptures that the two orders communicated to a broad public their respective theologies and encouraged the veneration of their saints.”

Italian, probably active in Bologna. Abbey Bible. Initial C: The Nativity (fol. 224r), ca. 1250–62. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment, leaf 10 9/16 x 7 3/4 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2011.23.224.

Organized thematically in five galleries, Sanctity Pictured brings together more than sixty works of art in media ranging from painting and manuscript illumination to bronze medals and printed books, by artists active in Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Siena, Venice, and other Italian cities. Among the highlights are the Vatican Museums’ Saint Francis with Four Post-Mortem Miracles, one of only eight Saint Francis vita panels to survive from the thirteenth century; the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Abbey Bible, among the earliest works of art made for the Dominicans; the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s little-known and recently conserved thirteenth-century painting Madonna and Child with Saint Francis sometimes attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna; and the Getty’s dramatic painting Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata by Domenico Beccafumi.

Giovanni di Paolo. Saint Clare Rescuing a Child Mauled by a Wolf, ca. 1455–60. Tempera and gold leaf on panel, 8 1/8 x 11 1/2 in. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Edith and Percy S. Straus Collection, 44.571

“The exhibition explores the incredible legacy of Assisi, the ancient hill town in central Italy where Saint Francis lived and where many people consider the Italian Renaissance to have begun with the innovative art and architecture of the Basilica of San Francesco,” says Frist Center Executive Director and CEO Dr. Susan H. Edwards. “With Francis, the patron saint of Italy and animals, as one of the stars, this exhibition will appeal to the general public as well as scholars. It is serendipitous that while we were organizing this show the new pope took the name Francis and renewed interest in this already popular saint.”

Domenico Beccafumi, St. Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata, ca. 1513–1515, Oil and gold on wood, 11” x 16”. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 97.PB.25

Historical Background on the Franciscan and Dominican Orders
The Franciscan order was founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226; canonized 1228). After his death, his followers used images to promote their belief that he was both a unique Christ-like figure and a second Adam at one with nature and animals. They made the extraordinary claims that Francis received the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ’s crucifixion) and that birds miraculously understood him when he preached. The order had a particularly close relationship with the popes, and the exhibition includes a late thirteenth-century choir book likely made for the papal basilica of Saint Peter’s in Rome ornamented with scenes of Saint Francis receiving the stigmata and preaching to the birds. The manuscript has never before traveled to the United States.

Giovanni di Paolo, 1460s, Saint Catherine of Siena and the Beggar, Tempera and gold on wood, 11” x 12”. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Dominican order was founded in 1216 by Dominic of Caleruega (1170–1221; canonized 1234). Its contribution to the arts includes manuscripts, such as the Abbey Bible, exquisitely illuminated in Italy’s bookmaking capital of Bologna, and the introduction of innovative tomb design with the Arca of Saint Dominic, carved by Nicola Pisano in about 1264-67. Like Francis, the Dominican saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380; canonized 1461) was believed to have received the stigmata, and it is indicative of the competition between the two orders that the Franciscans convinced Pope Sixtus IV to prohibit representations of her experiencing the miracle. Beccafumi’s painting of the subject on view in the exhibition is one of the few examples made in the Renaissance.

Jacopo Bassano, “Portrait of a Franciscan Friar,” ca. 1540-42. Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 x 27 1/4 in.(Photo: Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, AP 1997.02)

Italian, probably active in Bologna. Abbey Bible: Dominican and Franciscan Friars Singing at Lecterns (detail of fol. 224r), ca. 1250–62. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment, leaf 10 9/16 x 7 3/4 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2011.23.224

‘Paintings from Siena: Ars Narrandi in Europe’s Gothic Age’ on view in Brussels

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1240-1245, 1300-1310, 1311-1313, 1370-1380, 1390-1395, 1390-1400, 1430-1440, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Andrea Vanni, Angelo Puccinelli, Assumption of the Virgin with Hosanna and Musical Angels, c. 1336, c. 1340, c. 1396, c. 1403-1409, c. 1450, c. 1460, c. 1460-1465, c. 1470, Cennino Cennini, Christ Instituting the Eucharist, Christ Resurrected, Crucifixion with Mourners and Saint Mary Magdalene, Dietisalvi di Speme, Duccio and workshop, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Francesco di Valdambrino, Giovanni di Paolo, Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia, Infant Jesus Blessing, known as « Il Sassetta », La Nativité de la Vierge, Last Judgement, Madonna di San Bernardino, Madonna of Humility, Madonna on a Throne with Child and Stories of the Virgin, Madonna with child, Madonna with Child and Throne, Madonna with Child on a Throne and Two Angels, Margarito d’Arezzo, Master of the Maestà Gondi, Osservanza diptych, Paolo di Giovanni Fei, Pietro Lorenzetti, Saint Bernardino from Siena, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Michael Archangel, Sano di Pietro, Simone Martini, Stefano di Giovanni, Susanna at the Elders

Stefano di Giovanni, known as « Il Sassetta », Christ Instituting the Eucharist, 1424. Inv. 167 predella panel of the Arte della Lana altarpiece Tempera on board, 24.1 x 37.9 cm Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

BRUSSELS.- BOZAR pays tribute to Siena with over sixty exceptionally refined masterpieces from the collection of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, supplemented with loans from French museums. The public can see about sixty unique works, dating from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, which are being exhibited in the capital of Europe for the first time. The thematic arrangement of the works gives visitors the opportunity to discover masterpieces from the heyday of the European Gothic Age.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Siena was one of the leading artistic, financial and intellectual centres of Europe. The Sienese artists and their workshops enjoyed an excellent reputation and were renowned for their unparalleled craftsmanship and refined painting style. They received commissions from some of the most prominent and richest clients in Europe. Popes, emperors, rich merchants and public institutions readily purchased the works of these talented artists.

“Ars narrandi”, the art of storytelling

A new style developed under the impetus of painters such as Duccio, Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti brothers, Sassetta and Giovanni Di Paolo. The Sienese masters gradually broke free from the shackles of the Byzantine tradition with its idealised, divine and static figures, developing a more narrative visual language instead. The Sienese painters “narrated” well-known Biblical stories in a lively and recognisable manner. Their figures looked more human, openly showed their feelings and wore contemporary clothes. This way, the faithful could better identify with these pious examples. The didactical role of these paintings should not be underestimated at a time when the majority of the population was illiterate.

Siena, a European crossroads

Siena’s location along the Via Francigena, the pilgrim’s route which runs from the north of Europe to Rome, past the southern Italian ports to the Holy Land, turned the city into an important centre of trade, promoting artistic exchanges. The paintings, often small diptychs that were easy to transport, portable altarpieces and miniatures, were distributed via this route. They fascinated the other centres in Europe, and ultimately left their mark on art throughout the rest of Europe.

Giovanni di Paolo, Madonna of Humility, c. 1450, Inv. 206, tempera on board (with original frame), 62 x 47,5 cm. Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Angelo Puccinelli, Saint Michael Archangel on a Throne with Saints Anthony Abbot and John the Baptist, 1370-1380, Inv. 67, tempera and gold on board, 182 x 154 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Sano di Pietro, Saint Catherine of Siena, c. 1470, Inv. 264, tempera on board, 41 x 16,5 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Dietisalvi di Speme, Madonna with Child on a Throne and Two Angels (called Madonna di San Bernardino), 1262, Inv. 16, tempera on board, 142 x 100 cm Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Pietro Lorenzetti, Christ Resurrected, c. 1336, Inv. FPI 0062, detached fresco, 194.5 x 107.5 cm, Siena, Museo Diocesano.

Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Susanna at the Elders, c. 1460, Inv. 275, tempera and gold on panel, 30 x 40 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Stefano di Giovanni , known as « Il Sassetta », Saint Bernardino from Siena, 1444, Inv. 205, tempera on board, 177.5 x 52.8 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Margarito d’Arezzo, Saint Francis of Assisi, 1240-1245, Inv. 2, tempera on board, 95 x 37 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Duccio and workshop (Master of the Maestà Gondi), Madonna on a Throne with Child and Stories of the Virgin, 1311-1313, Inv. 35, portable triptych gold foil and tempera on board, 89 x 68 cm (ouvert), Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Simone Martini, Madonna with Child, 1300-1310, Inv. 583, tempera on board, 88 x 57 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Cennino Cennini, La Nativité de la Vierge, 1390-1400, Inv 317, tempera sur panneau, 86 x 67 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale (on temporary deposit at Colle di Val d’Elsa, Museo Civico e Diocesano d’Arte Sacra).

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna with Child, c. 1340, Inv. 605, tempera on board, 108 x 63 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Sano di Pietro, Assumption of the Virgin with Hosanna and Musical Angels,  1430-1440, Inv. 227 tempera on board (with original frame), 69.3 x 53 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Francesco di Valdambrino, Infant Jesus Blessing, c. 1403-1409, Inv. 36 IBS, carved, painted and gilded wood, h 41 cm Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Andrea Vanni Crucifixion with Mourners and Saint Mary Magdalene; sides: Two Prophets; in the trefoils above: Two Prophets, in half-bust, c. 1396, Inv. 114, tempera on board, 105 x 90 cm Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia, Last Judgement, Paradise, Hell, c. 1460-1465, Inv. 172, tempera on board, 42 x 253 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Paolo di Giovanni Fei, Osservanza diptych, Madonna with Child and Throne, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Two Angels (left); Crucifixion with Magdalene, Two Marys and the Fainted Virgin, Saint John Evangelist (right); cusps Angel Announcing (left), Annunciation Virgin (right), 1390-1395, Inv. 146, tempera on board, 53 x 48.5 cm, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale.