4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2011.

The Virgin and Child with Angels Appearing to Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul, the Hermit

Artist Paolo Veronese (Italian, 1528-1588)

CultureItalian

Date1562

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions112 × 66 1/2 in. (284.5 × 168.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 128 × 82 1/2 × 5 in. (325.1 × 209.6 × 12.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. in memory of Della Viola Forker Chrysler

Object number71.527

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 204

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting of the Virgin Mary appearing to the Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul, the Hermit. Mary hovers above on a cloud with the Christ-child and angels.

Label TextPaolo Veronese Italian (1528-1588) The Virgin and Child with Angels Appearing to Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul, the Hermit, 1562 Oil on canvas, 112 x 66 1/2 in. (284.5 x 168.9 cm) Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in memory of Della Viola Forker Chrysler 71.527 In a burst of miraculous golden light, the Madonna and Child in Glory swoop down upon the desert where a pair of very old men are startled from their prayers and meditations. These two founders of monasticism are awestruck by the heavenly vision: Anthony Abbot lurches forward on his crutch, his rosary lifted in his hand, while Paul the Hermit clutches his heart, the heavy volume of scriptures still balanced on his lap. Veronese has depicted the spectacular scene with warmth and immediacy in a painting intended to be placed high above an elaborate altar. As the worshipper gazes up to the celestial Virgin, she looks down serenely upon the humble saints whose gnarled feet and unkempt beards remind us of their ascetic self-denial and life-long spiritual devotions. We are drawn visually through their aged earthly bodies toward a promise of splendid eternal life. Despite the discoloration of the monk's robes from shades of green to dark brown, Veronese's genius as a colorist in the Venetian tradition is still splendidly in evidence in the handling of the heavenly satin drapery. He offers the eye a joyful bouquet of silvery blue, lemon yellow, and emerald green. This alterpiece was one of three works by Veronese commissioned in 1562 by the Benedictine monks at San Benedetto Po, near Mantua. They were completed in only three months' time and installed in their respective chapels in the sumptuous church. They were seen there by Giorgio Vasari, the famous painter and biographer, who in 1568 described Veronese's alterpieces as the best paintings in the abbey church. Napoleon's troops confiscated the three pictures, along with countless other works of art, during the French occupation of northern Italy in the late 1790s. The Virgin and Child with Angels Appearing to Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul, the Hermit eventually surfaced in France, where it was purchased by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in 1954. The two other paintings appeared in England in the nineteenth century: one was unfortunately destroyed by fire, but The Consecration of Saint Nicholas was acquired by the National Gallery in London. The abbey church and cloisters still stand today, with reproductions of the paintings placed above the original altars. Provenance(Original Commission) Chapel of Saint Anthony, Church of San Benedetto in Po, Mantua, Italy, 1562; Second chapel on the right, when facing the high altar; Removed from the church to the abbey at San Benedetto Po, Mantua, Italy, ca. 1792; Removed by occupying French troops and sold to Jean Frédéric Guillaume de Sahuguet d'Amarzit, comte d'Espagnac (1750 -1817) ca. 1798; Sold in France? to satisfy d'Espagnac's creditors, ca. 1819; Sold by Bonnefons de Lavialle, Paris, lot 59, to Vignot, ca. 1820; Private collection, France 1950; Jean Neger, Paris, France, 1954; Sold, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. in memory of Della Viola Forker Chrysler, 1971.Exhibition History"Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 26). "Paintings from Private Collections," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Summer, 1958. "Rockford College Festival of Arts," Rockford, Ill., 1963. (Exhib. cat. no. 8). "Venetian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century," Finch College Museum of Art, New York City, Oct. 30 - Dec. 15, 1963. (Exhib. cat. no. 30). "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. (Exhit. cat. no. 16). "Veronese and His Studio," Birmingham Museum of Art and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Oct. 1 - Dec. 31, 1972. (Exhib. cat. p. 20). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Nashville, Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 2). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. "The Golden Century of Venetian Painting," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Oct. 30,1979 - Jan. 27, 1980. (Exhib. cat. pp. 116-117). "The Genius of Veronese," Royal Academy of Arts London, 1983. (Exhib. cat. no. 135). "The Art of Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588," National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 1988 - Feb. 20, 1989. (Exhib. cat. no. 41). "Paolo Veronese in San Benedetto Po: Two Masterpieces Reunited," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Oct. 28, 1995 - Jan. 14, 1996. "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., March 15 - August 16, 2009. “Paolo Veronese: Versatile Master of Renaissance Venice,” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, December 6, 2012 – April 14, 2013. "Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice," National Gallery, London, UK, March 19 - June 15, 2014. Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 26. Robert L. Manning. _Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 16. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 2. *See for further references. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 1. *See for further references. _The Genius of Venice 1500-1600_, exhib. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1983, no. 135. _The Art of Paolo Veronese 1528-1588_, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988-89, no. 41. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 13, 14-15; Color plate 15. Nicholas Penny and Marika Spring, "Veronese's Paintings in the National Gallery; Technique and Materials: Part I," _National Gallery Technical Bulletin_. Vol. 16 (London: 1995), Fig. 4, 12 (black and white illustration). Beverly Louise Brown, "Veronese and the Church Triumphant: The Alterpieces for San Benedetto Po," Artibus et Historiae, XXV, 1997: 51-64. Robert Cocke, _Paolo Veronese: Piety and Display in an Age of Religious Reform_ (England: Ashgate, 2001), 91-92, fig. 2.12. Hans Dieter Huber,_Paolo Veronese: Kunst als soziales System_ München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. 2005, 149-150, fig. 212. Xavier F. Salomon, _Veronese's Allegories: Virtue, Love, and Exploration in Resaissance Venice_, exh. cat., The Frick Collection, New York, New York, 2006, 17, 26 & 27 Fig. 14. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 26 fig. 15. Paolo Piva, _L'abbazia di San Benedetto in Polirone: Un percorso nella storia 1007-1797_ (Mantove, Italy: Publi Paolini, 2007), 72-73 fig. 41. Bill Manley, "Renewed, Revived, Restored," _The Virginian-Pilot_ The Daily Break, (06/25/2008): 3. Bill Manley, "Restore, Revive, Renew," _Link_ (07/25/2008): cover and 12. Nicholas Penny, _National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings Volume II: Venice 1540 - 1600_ (London: The National Gallery, 2008), 348-349, fig. 2. Frederick Ilchman, et al., _Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice_, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., 2009, 144-145 cat. 19. David Rosand, _Veronese_. Paris: Editio-Editions Citadelles & Mazenod, 2012. p. 220. Alessandra Zamperini, _Paolo Veronese_ (Verona: Arsenale Editrice, 2013) 240. Xavier F. Salomon, _Veronese_ (London: The National Gallery Company Limited, 2014) 105, 254, cat. no. 18. Christopher Brouard, "Une exposition de chefs-d'oeuvre: Véronèse en une exposition," _Dossier de l'Art_, April 2014, 16. David Rosand, with Mary E. Frank, ed., _Paolo Veronese_ (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2023) 188, fig. 7.13.