The Baptism of Christ

Artist Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) b. 1528, Verona; d. 1588, Venice

Datecirca 1550–1560

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions33 3/4 x 46 in. (85.7 x 116.8 cm)
Frame: 41 1/2 x 53 3/4 x 4 in. (105.4 x 136.5 x 10.2 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Object numberGL.60.17.47

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceStigliano Palace, Naples; Lord Heytesbury, London; (no. 1 of ms. inventory of 1843; from the preceding); painting remained in the Heytesbury Collection until 1926, when Heytesbury House and its contents were sold by the executors of Margaret, Lady Heytesbury, widow of the 3rd Baron - it was lot 1322 in the auction held at Heytesbury House by Hampton and Sons (April 30, 1926, fourth day of sale - the artist was given as "Lucini"); bought by Colnaghi's (in a joint account with Knoedler's); sold to H.M. Clark (London) May 7, 1926; Contini Bonacossi, Florence; Samuel H. Kress collection, 1935; given to NCMA 1960.Published ReferencesG. F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, Vol. 4 (London: John Murray, 1857), 386.

Nagoli nobilissima, Vol. 4, no. 1 (1895), 29-32.

Detlev Baron von Hadeln, "Two Paintings of the Baptism by Paul Veronese," Apollo 4, (1926), 104-106, illus. 106.

Venetian Painting (exhibition catalogue) (San Francisco: Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1938), cat. no. 74.

Religious Art (exhibition catalogue) (Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art,
1938), cat. no. 37.

Masterworks of Five Centuries (exhibition catalogue) (San Francisco: 1939), cat. no. 58.

"Dayton: European Loans from Kress Collections," The Art News (1939), 13, illus.

Masterpieces of Art (exhibition catalogue) (New York: New York World's Fair, 1940), cat. no. 22.

Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1941), cat. no. 323.

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures...Venetian School, Vol. 1 (1957), 139.

The Samuel H. Kress Collection (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1960), 96, illus. (color) 97.

The Italian Heritage (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Wildenstein, 1967), cat. no. 29, illus.

Fern Rusk Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian School XV-XVI Century, Vol. 3 (New York, 1968), cat. no. K388, illus. fig. 72.

Luciana Crosato Larcher, "L'Opera Completa del Verones," Arte Veneta 22 (1968), 220-224.

Antonio Morassi, "Un Battesimo' inedito di Paolo Veronese," Arte veneta 22 (1968), 30-38, illus: 36, fig. 47.

R. Marini, Veronese (French ed.: 1970), no. 5.

Veronese and His Studio in North American Collections (exhibition catalogue) (Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Museum of Art, 1972), 19, illus.

T. Pignatti, Veronese, 2 Vols. (Venice: 1976), no. 104.

Book Review, Burlington Magazine 119 (December 1977), 786-787.

George R. Goldner, "A Baptism of Christ by Veronese in the Getty Museum." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 9 (1981), 116, illus. 114, fig. 4.

Richard Cocke, Veronese's Drawings: A Catalogue Raisonne (London: Sotheby Publications, 1984), illus. fig. 96 (as Workshop of Veronese).

William R. Rearick, The Art of Paolo Veronese: 1528-1588 (exhibition catalogue) (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1989), 84, illus.

Gene Thornton, "A New Look at Two Old Masters at the National Gallery." Raleigh: The News and Observer (December 18, 1988).

"Veronese in Washington," Burlington Magazine 131, no. 1030 (January 1989), 61-64.

Terisio Pignatti and Filippo Pedrocco, Veronese: Catalogo completo dei dipinti (Firenze: Cantini, 1991), 31, illus. cat. no. 11.

Nicholas H. J. Hall, ed., Colnaghi in America: A Survey to Commemorate the First Decade of Colnaghi New York (New York: Colnaghi, 1992), listed 142.

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 177.

David Steel, "A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Winter 1993), 8.

Chiyo Ishikawa, et al, A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), cat. no. 4, illus. (color) 76.

Chuck Twardy, "Store-bought art," Raleigh: The News and Observer (February 6, 1994), mentioned 10G.

Caterina Furlan, ed., Dal Pordenone a Palma il Giovane (exhibition catalogue) (Milan: Electa, 2000), 170, illus. (b-w).

David Rosand, Véronèse (Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2012), illus. (color) 174-75.

Frederick Ilchman, “The Baptism of Christ,” in Paolo Veronese (exhibition catalogue), Virginia Brilliant, ed., (London: Scala Publishers, Ltd., in association with the John and Mable Ringling Museum of art, 2012) cat. no. 37, discussed 176–178, 180–183, noted 97, illus. (color) 176.

Lyle Humphrey, "Saul Among the Prophets: W.R. Valentiner, Robert L. Humber, Carl W. Hamilton, and the Italian Collection at the NCMA," Lisandra Estevez, ed., Collecting Early Modern Art (1400-1800) in the U.S. South (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021), 45.

Jeremy Howard and Tim Warner-Johnson, eds., Colnaghi: Past, Present, and Future: An Anthology (London: Colnaghi & Co., 2017), illus. (c
olor)Exhibition HistoryLondon, British Institution, 1866, no. 54.

San Francisco, CA, Palace of the Legion of Honor, "Venetian Painting," June 25-July 28, 1938, cat. no. 74.

Seattle, WA, "Venetian Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection," August 1-25, 1938; Portland, Oregon, September 1-26, 1938; Montgomery, Alabama, October 1-31, 1938.

Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Museum of Art, "Religious Art," December 4, 1938-January 1, 1939, cat. no. 37.

San Francisco, CA, Golden Gate International Exhibition, "Masterworks of Five Centuries," December 1, 1939-April 8, 1940, cat. no. 58.

New York, NY, New York World's Fair, "Masterpieces of Art," 1940, cat. no. 22.

Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, 1941-59, cat. no. 323.

New York, NY, Wildenstein, "The Italian Heritage," May 17-September 3, 1967, cat. no. 29, illus.

Birmingham, AL, Birmingham Museum of Art, "Veronese and His Studio: In North American Collections," October 1-November 15, 1972; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, December 5-December 31, 1972, p. 19, illus.

Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, "The Art of Paolo Veronese: 1528-1588," November 13, 1988-February 20, 1989, cat. p. 84, illus.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection," February 5-April 24, 1994; Houston, TX, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, May 22-August 14, 1994; Seattle, WA, Seattle Art Museum, September 15-November 20, 1994; San Francisco, CA, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, December 17, 1994-March 4, 1995, cat. no. 4, illus. (color) 76.

Sarasota, FL, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, “Paolo Veronese,” December 7, 2012–April 14, 2013, cat. no. 37, illus. (color) 176.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–July 8, 2024.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Venice and the Ottoman Empire," September 28, 2024-January 5, 2025. Object Rights Statement

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