Panel from a dismembered altarpiece: The Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi

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Panel from a dismembered altarpiece: The Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi

Artist Master of the Bologna Polyptychs Italian, active in Bologna,1320s

Datecirca 1320

MediumTempera and gold leaf on poplar panel

Dimensions20 3/4 x 31 5/8 in. (52.7 x 80.3 cm)
Frame: 24 3/4 x 35 1/2 in. (62.9 x 90.2 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Object numberGL.60.17.11

On View

On view

Label Text
The lively expressions and gestures of Pseudo-Jacopino’s figures and the elaborate, stylized patterns and color combinations found in his compositions reflect the influence of contemporary Bolognese manuscript illumination and Riminese painting. In many of the artist’s works, highly refined elements appear side by side with rather awkward, retardataire passages. In this painting, the lively demeanor of the figures and the dignified mien of the elegantly attired kings on the right clearly reveal the artist’s abilities. His use of simultaneous narrative, the combination of two distinct episodes in the same work, was a compositional device often employed by Medieval artists. To the left, Mary, Joseph, angels, and the ox and ass reverently worship the newborn Christ Child, who lies in a manger under an open shed while, seated before the same structure, Mary and the infant Jesus receive the gifts of the three kings from the East.

This is one of five paintings in the Museum’s collection by Pseudo-Jacopino, whose works are rarely found outside Italy. The Museum’s panels, which appear to come from two separate altarpieces, were once part of the collection of the Gozzadini, one of the distinguished patrician families of Bologna. The name of this anonymous artist (or perhaps group of artists) is derived from the painter Jacopino di Francesco Bavosi, who was active about 1360–83. While the two artists’ works are superficially similar, the group of paintings now attributed to Pseudo-Jacopino are thought to date from about 1320 to 1350, too early for them to have been painted by Bavosi.

ProvenanceCount Giovanni Gozzadini, Bologna; Gozzadini estate sale, Bologna March 12 - 13, 1906, no.111; Dan Fellows Platt Collection, Englewood, NJ; Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1939; Kress Foundation Gift to NCMA, 1961.
Published References[Gozzadini sale cat.]

F. Mason Perkins, "Dipinti italiani nella Raccolta Platt, parte 2," Rassegna d'Arte 11, no. 9 (September 1911), 145 (see curatorial file for GL.60.17.11).

L. Frati, L'Arte 12 (1914), 421f.

Raimond van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, Vol. 4 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1924), 421-22 (as Pseudo-Jacopo Avanzi).

Evelyn Sandburg Vavala, "Some Bolognese Paintings Outside Bologna and a Trecento Humorist," Art In America 20, no. 1 (December 1931), 20 (as Pseudo-Jacopo Avanzi).

Francesco Arcangeli, "Un vitale e un Jacopo da Bologna," Proporzioni 2 (1948), 67-74 (see curatorial file for GL.60.17.11).

Mostra dell a Pittura Bolognese dell' 300 (exhibition catalogue) (Bologna: Pinacoteca, 1950), cat. nos. 44-47.

Roberto Longhi, "La Mostra del Trecento Bolognese,"Paragone 1, no. 5 (May 1950), 13-15 (as Jacopino di Francesco).

William E. Suida, "Rassegna," La Critica d'Arte no. 33 (May 1950) 52-58, illus. fig. 56.

The Samuel H. Kress Collection (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1960), 40, illus. (b-w) 41, fig. A (as Jacopino di Francesco).

Fern Rusk Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools XIII - XV Century, Vol. 1 (London; The Phaidon Press, 1968), 71, illus. fig. 189.

David Steel, "A Bolognese Legacy: Emilian Paintings in the Collection," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Winter 1991-92), noted 3-4, illus. (b-w) 3.

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 163.

David Steel, entry for The Nativity and Adoration of the Magi, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 122, illus. (color).

"Renovated European Galleries," in North Carolina Museum of Art supplement to the Durham Herald-Sun (October 2002), mentioned 3.

David Steel, "The Christmas Story in Art," Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (November/December 2003), mentioned and illus. (color) 10-11.

Perri Lee Roberts, Corpus of Early Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections: The South, Vol. 3 (Athens, GA: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2009), discussed 664, illus. (b-w) 665.

David Steel, entry for The Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 252, illus. (color) 253.

Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City, Trinita Kennedy, ed. (exhibition catalogue) (Nashville, TN: Frist Art Museum, 2021), cat. no. 37, illus. (color).
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Hunter College, Roosevelt House, 1944.

Washington, DC, The National Gallery of Art, 1951 - 1952.

Bologna, Italy, Pinacoteca, "Mostra dell a Pittura Bolognese dell' 300," May-October 1950, cat. nos. 44-47 (see curatorial file for GL.60.17.11).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "A Gift to North Carolina: Italian Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection," February 5-April 24, 1994, handout no. 2.

Nashville, TN, Frist Art Museum, “Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City,” November 5, 2021–January 30, 2022, cat. no. 37, illus. (color).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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