Adoration of the Christ Child
ca. 1495
Tondi frequently portrayed the holy family, and they often included John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin and the patron saint of Florence. Here, Joseph and John look notably somber—it was believed that John had foreknowledge of Christ’s later suffering and death. Christ’s future sacrifice is also intimated by the sheaves of wheat that form his pillow and symbolize the bread of the Eucharist.
Oil and gold on wood panel
Samuel H. Kress Collection
61.165
Provenance: Lord Northwick, Thirlestane House, Cheltenham, England, until sale of August 18, 1859, lot 1512 (as Filippo Lippi); (possibly Mr. A.S. Drey, Munich, in 1920, as published in van Marle, Italian Schools of Painting, Vol XI, 1929, p. 614); J.C.W. Sawbridge-Erle-Drax, Esq., "Olantigh," Wye, Kent, England, until 1929 [1]; [sold at Christie's, London, England, June 28, 1929, lot 95 (as Filippo Lippi)]; (possibly in private collection, Milan, dates unknown); [Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955), Rome-Florence, until 1936; Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955), New York, October 18,1936 (exhibited Texas Centennial Museum , College of Mines and Metallurgy, El Paso, TX, December 7, 1940 – January 1, 1941, as Cosimo Rosselli); Seattle Art Museum, since 1952, accessioned 1961
[1] All English owners provided by Everett Fahy, Director, The Frick Collection, in a letter dated August 11, 1980
Photo: Paul Macapia