The Death of the Virgin
Starnina (Gherardo di Jacopo)·1405–10
Historical Context
Starnina (Gherardo di Jacopo) painted this Death of the Virgin between 1405 and 1410, one of the most important works of the International Gothic style in Florence. Starnina spent years in Spain before returning to Florence, where his work represented the cosmopolitan courtly style that prevailed before Masaccio's revolution. This panel demonstrates the elegant, refined approach to religious narrative that characterized European painting on the eve of the Renaissance breakthrough.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on panel demonstrates the refined technique of the International Gothic with its graceful figure types, decorative gold ground, and rich textile patterns. The emotional narrative of the Virgin's death is conveyed through elegant gestures and expressions that balance solemnity with decorative beauty.
Provenance
D. P. Sellar, London; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June 6, 1889, no. 18, for 300 francs (for the price, see annotated copy of this sale catalogue, Topeka Public Library, Topeka, Kansas, and annotated copy of 1914 Sambon Collection sale catalogue, Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Jean Dollfus, Paris; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, pt. 3, April 1–2, 1912, no. 51, p. 19 (ill.), as Florentine School, to Sambon for 20,000 francs (for buyer, see annotated copy of sale catalogue, Ryerson Library, The Art Institute of Chicago and, for price, see annotated copy of 1914 Sambon Collection sale catalogue, at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as cited above); Arthur Sambon, Paris, 1912–14; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 25–28, 1914, no. 213 (ill.), as Florentine School, to Trotti for 9000 francs (for price and buyer, see annotated copy of sale catalogue, Thomas J. Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as cited above). Marcel Nicolle, Paris; sold to Hermann Heilbuth, Copenhagen, by 1920 (see exhibition catalogue, Copenhagen 1920, no. 4). Ehrich Galleries, New York; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, 1923 (invoice dated February 1, 1923, copy in curatorial files); on loan to the Art Institute from 1923; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
