Fine Arts Gallery

The paintings that constitute the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection at Vanderbilt University represent a selection of fourteenth- through sixteenth-century Renaissance works of art from northern and southern Italy. The subject matter of these paintings comprises religious narratives as well as saintly images, serving to demonstrate how strong both official and popular pietism were during the age. Yet, in spite of the constancy of devotional spirit underlying the collection, there are a variety of styles and interpretations. It is just such variety which lends value to these painted panels as major components of a university museum collection.

The pieces in the Kress Study Collection range from the Crucifixion by the Bolognese painter, Jacopo di Paolo, to the Virgin and Saints by a Lombard artist, Girolamo Giovenone. They show the transition from the polished tempera-and-gold-leaf surfaces of the Trecento to the deeper resonances of oil painting in the Mannerist style of the mid-sixteenth century. By way of contrast, the Virgin and Child with St. Anne, attributed to Goswyn van der Weyden, provides a Flemish perspective on Renaissance painting that shows Italianate connections to the art of the early sixteenth century in northern Europe.

Viewed as a whole, the Kress pictures demonstrate the attention to craftsmanship and detail that still prevailed in an artistic environment of thriving workshops and competitive commissions. One is immediately struck by the high standards adhered to by artists of limited renown. As these paintings so well illustrate, Renaissance masters had a remarkable sensitivity to both decorative and figural design, as well as a long-standing familiarity with standard subject types. These works, on long-term loan to Vanderbilt, provide an unparalleled opportunity for direct contact with our artistic heritage.