Pot pourri, Saint-Cloud, vers 1740 & Bougeoir, Tournai, XVIIIe siècle
Pot pourri. Saint-Cloud, vers 1740. photo courtesy Kohn - Paris
Matériaux : porcelaine tendre et bronzes dorés - h. 24, 5 cm, l. 22 cm, p. 18 cm. Petite restauration à un branchage. Estimation : 12 000 / 18 000 €. Pas d'adjudication
NOTE: Le pot-pourri, d'époque Louis XV, repercé orné de feuilles et de fl eurs est porté par un vase au corps pansu cannelé, entouré de guirlandes feuillagées sur une base rocaille en bronze doré d'époque Louis XVI. « …Saint-Cloud peut prétendre avoir été parmi les précurseurs des fabricants de porcelaine tendre, et la qualité de cette fabrication, le charme de ses produits, l'ont placés en tête des manufactures du XVIIIe siècle. Située en bordure de Seine, elle eut l'avantage d'être près de Paris et de Sèvres. Dès 1677, la faïencerie de Saint-Cloud fabrique une pâte tendre qui tout de suite tient la tête de la qualité. Chicaneau, chimiste et artiste, s'attaqua aux secrets de la pâte tendre ; c'était un chercheur. Il réussira pleinement mais ne demeurera pas longtemps au travail.
La mort l'emporte en 1678. Sa succession fut assurée par sa veuve, née Barbe Courday, qui épousera Henri Trou, habile maître faïencier de la fabrique, lequel obtiendra la protection de Monsieur, frère du Roi. De nombreux enfants des deux lits continueront, non sans jalousie ni complication, l'OEuvre des parents. En 1772, Henri II Trou, fils d'Henri I Trou, obtiendra un nouveau privilège.
Malgré les difficultés financières sans nombre, les Trou produisent une porcelaine tendre d'une qualité exceptionnelle, mais les complications, les ennuis se font plus nombreux et, à l'approche de l'année 1765, la liquidation est inévitable. En 1766, les fours sont éteints et l'on est obligé de déposer le bilan. Et pourtant, la production fut abondante ; il n'est pas rare de trouver des spécimens des différentes époques de Saint-Cloud chez les collectionneurs et dans les musées. Les formes des pièces qui sortirent au cours des ces années sont pour la pâte tendre des plus variées. Comme toujours les petites pièces ont la faveur des acheteurs, leurs modèles sont souvent tirés des formes de l'argenterie. Pas d'assiettes, peu de plats, mais toute une gamme de pots à crème, pots à onguents, services de toilettes, boîtes à parfum, pots pourris, services ménagers, saucières, sucriers, écuelles, trembleuses. Certaines petites pièces sont côtelées, ce qui donne un relief à leur décor… »
BIBLIOGRAPHIE : Marques et signatures de la porcelaine française par Geneviève Le Duc et Henri Curtil p. 69 et 70. Paris Edition Massin 1970.
Bougeoir. Tournai, XVIIIe siècle. photo courtesy Kohn - Paris
Matériaux : porcelaine tendre et bronzes dorés - h. 21,5 cm, l. 20 cm, p. 18 cm. Fêle de cuisson sous la base. Estimation : 10 000 / 15 000 €. Pas d'adjudication
NOTE: Précieux bougeoir en porcelaine blanche à pâte tendre, à décor de scène animalière au pied d'un arbre probablement inspiré d'un modèle de Jean Baptiste Oudry. En partie haute une tête de griffon soutient le bougeoir ; au pied de l'arbre, un chien attaque une oie dans un entourage de branchage fleuri. Monture rocaille en bronze ajouré, ciselé et doré.
… « La carence en kaolin dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens fut une des premières causes de la fondation en 1750, à Tournai, d'une manufacture de porcelaine de pâte tendre. La pâte tendre française à laquelle s'apparente celle de Tournai est composée d'une fritte, dans laquelle entre en proportions diverses de multiples éléments, enduites d'une couverture plombifère. C'est la faible résistance de ces compositions à l'action de la haute température et le fait que la couverture, rayable à l'acier est très fusible, qui lui a valu le nom de pâte tendre… »
Kohn - Paris. Vente du Vendredi 26 mars 2010. Drouot Richelieu - Salles 1 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris.
Yuan dynasty's 'qingbai' & 'longquan' celadon @ Sotheby's
A carved 'qingbai' 'dragon' vase (meiping). Yuan dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's
the baluster body boldly carved with a large dragon amidst foaming waves, all between a lotus lappet band at the base and a floral scroll encircling the shoulder - height 10 7/8 in., 27.6 cm. Est. 40,000—60,000 USD. Lot Sold 40,625 USD
NOTE: Vases of this type are quite precisely datable since several examples are known from dated archaeological sites. A closely related pair of 'Qingbai' meiping with covers unearthed at Wannian county, Jiangxi province and dated to 1324 AD is illustrated in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 97; compare another meiping of this type and design in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, illustrated in Timothy Potts (ed.), Kimbell Art Museum. Handbook of the Collection, Fort Worth, Texas, 2003, p. 197, upper left. An example of this type from the Plesch collection, was sold in these rooms, 12th July 2006, lot 47; a vase of larger proportions formerly in the Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo, was also sold in these rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 58.
A 'longquan' celadon biscuit 'twin fish' basin. Late Yuan / early Ming dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's
the interior carved with waves surrounded by peony sprays on the cavetto, two molded biscuit fish applied to the well - diameter 12 1/2 in., 31.8 cm. Est. 12,000—15,000 USD. Lot Sold 20,000 USD
PROVENANCE: Collection of Sarabel Florsheim.
Sotheby's New York, 31st March 2005, lot 104.
A 'longquan' celadon-glazed vase. Yuan dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's
the shoulder with a pair of elephant-head handles suspending fixed rings, covered overall with a bluish-green glaze - height 8 1/4 in., 21 cm. Est. 7,000—9,000 USD. Lot Sold 17,500 USD
PROVENANCE: Peter Boode, London.
Carl Kempe Collection.
Sotheby's London, 5th November 2008, lot 574.
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Bo Gyllensvard, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 153.
A 'longquan' celadon-glazed stemcup. Late Yuan / early Ming dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's
the deeply rounded sides flaring at the rim, supported on a ribbed stem, applied overall with a rich celadon glaze - height 3 1/2 in., 8.3 cm. Est. 3,000—5,000 USD. Lot Sold 5,000 USD
NOTE: A very similar stemcup is illustrated in John Ayers, The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art, 1954, vol. II, pl. LXI, no. D187
A small 'longquan' celadon octagonal cup. Yuan dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's
each facet of the exterior set with a biscuit figure, against a thick celadon glaze - width 3 in., 7.6 cm. Est. 4,000—6,000 USD. Lot Sold 4,375 USD
PROVENANCE: The George de Menasce Collection.
Spink & Son, London.
Christie's New York, 11th July 2006, lot 479.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 23 Mar 2010. New York www.sothebys.com
Christie's to Offer Valuable Collection of Illuminated Manuscripts
A Book of Hours opulently illuminated for King François I of France by the Master of François de Rohan is expected to realise £300,000 to £500,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010
LONDON.- Christie’s announce that they will offer the first part of an extensive selection of exceptional medieval and renaissance masterpieces on 7 July 2010 in London. The Arcana Collection: Exceptional Illuminated Manuscripts and Incunabula Part I is an outstanding private collection which has been assembled over the past 3 decades and which includes personal prayer books made for Royals, Bishops, Aristocracy and other important patrons from the 13th century to the 16th century. These include King François I of France, a leading patron of Leonardo da Vinci and the first owner of his masterpiece The Mona Lisa, as well as King Henry IV of France and Elizabeth de Bohun, great grandmother of King Henry V of England.
The collection will offer 48 lots with an overall estimate of £11 million to £16 million, and will be on public exhibition for the first time, alongside Christie’s July auction of Old Masters and 19th Century Art from 3 to 7 July 2010.
Some of the most highly priced items in the inventories of renaissance kings and princes were illuminated manuscripts – handwritten books with illustrations and decorations painted in brilliant colours and gold. It was not simply the cost of materials and labour – their visual richness makes each book the equivalent of a gallery of paintings – but it is their aesthetic quality that led to these books being so highly valued, for the artists who painted them were often the leading artists of their day. Such books were among the most eloquent demonstrations of the wealth and refined taste of their owners.
Books of Hours, prayerbooks intended for private use, were the most popular type of illuminated manuscript and they are splendidly represented in the Arcana collection. Because the Book of Hours were designed for personal use, their content and appearance could be tailored to an individual’s preference, reflecting his or her concerns, interests and taste. Their purpose was not solely religious – the finest were clearly meant to visually delight both the owner and everyone to whom they were shown: they were meant for display and as demonstrations of status and discernment. Owners were often identified and represented in these books, their portraits showing them richly dressed in the height of contemporary fashion.
Highlights of the collection include:
• A Book of Hours opulently illuminated for King François I of France by the Master of François de Rohan is expected to realise £300,000 to £500,000. François I, celebrated as one of the greatest princely patrons of the Renaissance, commissioned art and architecture of the highest quality attracting to his court the leading artists of his day. Leonardo da Vinci was eminent among them and spent his final years in the king's employ. After Leonardo's death François I acquired what is probably the world's most famous painting, The Mona Lisa, from the artist's estate.
• Executed in England in the 14th century, the Hours and Psalter of Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Northampton and great-grandmother of King Henry V of England, are expected to realise £2,000,000 to £3,000,000. These were lent by a previous owner, William Waldorf Astor, to the important loan exhibition in New York 1883 that raised funds for a pedestal for The Statue of Liberty.
• A manuscript Bible produced in Italy in the middle of the 13th century with extensive and exquisite painted illustration. It appears to have been made for the use of a convent of Dominican friars - but the borders include diverting genre scenes and fantastical creations far from the routine religious illustrations that might be expected. The death of Theodoric Borgognoni (c.1296) is recorded in the Calendar and he may have commissioned the work: not only a Dominican friar and Bishop of Cervia he was one of the most significant and innovative surgeons of the medieval period. This Bible carries an estimate of £2,500,000 to £3,500,000.
• The sumptuous Epistres d'Ovide, the earliest translation into French Ovid’s Heroines, was made for Anne of Brittany, Queen to two Kings of France, Charles VIII and Louis XII, and mother of the wife of a third - Francois I. (estimate: £500,000 to £800,000)
• The first edition of Boccaccio’s On Famous Women (estimate: £250,000 to £350,000) was printed at Ulm in 1473, and is also a masterpiece of German woodcut illustration. This copy was formerly owned by W.E. Gladstone, Hawarden Castle.
• The first edition of Pliny’s Natural History in Italian (estimate: £250,000 to £350,000) is a masterpiece of early typography, printed at Venice by Nicolas Jenson in 1476, and exquisitely illuminated for the Bolzani family by the Master of the Seven Virtues.
• The Cauchon Hours was made in the middle of the 15th century for a noble couple from Rheims, who are portrayed as a knight in armour and his elegantly robed lady. The miniatures are accompanied by enchanting vignettes, both reflections of their daily surroundings and engaging inventions. All are represented with delicacy and verve in a light bright palette to make the manuscript a masterpiece of medieval charm (estimate: £800,000 to £1,200,000).
• One of the most celebrated books of the Italian Renaissance: the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (£220,000 to £260,000) to be offered at Christie’s in July is the copy originally owned by the most famous bibliophile of all time, Jean Grolier, and subsequently by Earl Spencer.
The Cauchon Hours was made in the middle of the 15th century for a noble couple from Rheims, who are portrayed as a knight in armour and his elegantly robed lady. The miniatures are accompanied by enchanting vignettes, both reflections of their daily surroundings and engaging inventions. All are represented with delicacy and verve in a light bright palette to make the manuscript a masterpiece of medieval charm. Estimate: £800,000 to £1,200,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010.
A rare imperial engraved turned ivory bowl. 18th century
A rare imperial engraved turned ivory bowl. 18th century. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2010
Finely incised with a scene of four female Daoist immortals bearing trays of food and drink to a mist-enshrouded palace amidst pines, and engraved with an inscription, Bei que lin xian zhang; Nan shan zuo shou bei, and two red seals, Dan Jing, with a two-character engraved red seal, Gong zhi, on the base encircled by the channeled foot - 3 11/16 in. (9.5 cm.) diam., box - Est. $30,000 - $50,000 - Price Realized $842,500
Provenance: H.G. and M.A. Beasley Collections, acquired June 1925.
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London.
Literature: Paul Moss, The Literati Mode, London, 1986, no. 97.
Notes: The delicacy of the decoration on this imperial ivory bowl provides a perfect complement to the smooth carving and perfectly balanced proportions. This type of ivory decoration comprised of incised lines filled with black ink or lacquer to resemble ink painting has a long history in China. A rare Ming dynasty ivory brush pot decorated with an incised design of the Three Friends of Winter, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji, Gongyi meishu bian 11 Zhumu, yajiaoqi, Beijing, 1987, p. 78, no, 90. In the Qing dynasty there were two versions of this style. One of these had the fine lines of decoration against an uncolored ground, as on the current bowl. The other version had a dark, usually black or red lacquer, ground on which the designs appeared in reserve with fine line details. An example of this latter type of decoration can be seen on an ivory table screen dated to AD 1771 in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, illustrated in Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984, p. 146, no. 162.
An ivory bowl similarly decorated to the current bowl is preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 44 - Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 166, no. 144. (Fig. 1)
The figures and landscape on the current bowl are delicately and beautifully rendered. Daoist immortals are shown emerging from behind a rocky outcrop and approaching a palace, possibly intended to represent the Guanghan palace, amongst the clouds. They each carry an offering, in the case of the two leading figures these appear to be cups on cup stands. It was to the Guanghan Palace on the moon that the goddess Chang E was supposed to have fled with the elixir of immortality that she stole from her husband, the archer Yi, and these offerings may be intended for her. The only plants depicted in the scene on the bowl are pine trees, which are symbols of longevity. By reducing the distant mountains to fine outlines and surrounding mountains, figures, trees and buildings alike with billowing clouds, the ivory artist has effectively evoked the magical nature of the landscape.
In keeping with the Daoist theme of the decoration, the bowl also bears an inscription, Bei que lin xian zhang; Nan shan zuo shou bei, which may be translated as reading:
'The northern capital descends into the palm of an immortal;
The southern mountains become a cup of immortality.'
Appended to this inscription are two seals, dan, referring to the elixir of immortality, and jing, referring to a well for water. On the base of the bowl is another seal reading Gong zhi, meaning 'made in (or for) the Palace'. This imperial seal appears on the base of two early Qing dynasty ivory bowls, from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 44 - Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, pp. 165-6, nos. 143 and 144. The shape and size of these bowls, coupled with the style and execution of their decoration, and the choice of decorative themes, suggests that they and the current bowl may originally have been part of the same set, made perhaps for the Kangxi emperor. The esteem in which these bowls were held by the Qing court is reflected in the fact that one of the bowls in the Palace Museum has been given a gold lining, while the other has a silver lining. Such linings also suggest that these bowls may have been used on some special occasion, as opposed to merely being decorative.
Christie's. For the Enjoyment of Scholars: Selections from the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection. 25 March 2010. New York, Rockefeller Plaza www.christies.com
Sotheby's to Sell Newly Discovered Ottoman Ivory and Turquoise-Inlaid Box
An Ottoman Ivory and Turquoise-Inlaid Box Set with Rubies, Turkey, Early 16th Century. Estimate: £500,000-700,000. Photo: Sotheby's
LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 in its biannual Arts of the Islamic World Auction, it will present for sale an unrecorded and hitherto lost early-16th century Ottoman ivory and turquoise-inlaid box set with rubies. This unique treasure, crafted by Persian goldsmiths working for the Ottoman court for a high-ranking courtly figure, is believed to have been made to contain scales to measure the weight of gemstones and was not known to exist until its recent rediscovery. Ottoman objects of such exquisite craftsmanship and quality rarely appear on the market and its sale is set to generate enormous excitement and interest among collectors, connoisseurs and scholars alike. The box is estimated at £500,000-700,000.
Commenting on this exquisite work of art and its rediscovery, Edward Gibbs, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Middle East and India Department, said: “This superlative object highlights the exceptionally refined masterpieces produced by Persian goldsmiths working for the Ottoman court at the beginning of the 16th century. Its sumptuous ornamentation is unmatched in elegance and skill, rendering it an item of the highest aesthetic and historical value. Its rediscovery provides further insight into the astonishing talent of Safavid craftsmen during the first half of the 16th century and it will undoubtedly be studied by scholars for years to come.”
Measuring 17.3cm in length, 8.8cm in width and 3.2cm in height, and centred on a ruby jewelled-rosette, the box’s ivory filets and mosaic-sliced turquoise or firuzekari finely frame a series of symmetrical panels containing intricately carved and gold-inlaid vegetal patterns in what can be called the 'international Timurid style'.
The inscriptions on the lid of the box provide significant insight into the practical function of the box: ‘nabvad mihaki hamcho tarazu be-jahan / ta sang-e sabokbar be-meqdar-e garan / yak kaffe-ye u buvad mah o digar mehr /oftadeh qerane mehr o mah dar mizan’ ('There is no touchstone (?) like these scales in the world / To measure stones light and yet precious / One tray is like the moon, the other the sun / The conjunction of the sun and moon has fallen in its balance'). From the first two verses, it can be inferred that the box contained scales precise enough to measure the weight of gemstones. The ivory interior, decorated with a central jewelled medallion and four corner spandrels in gold and niello, shows remains of either an internal fitting or the original contents described by the poetic calligraphy on the exterior.
The extravagant luxury of Persian objects comprising precious metals and stones is recorded in early-16th-century accounts of Portuguese ambassadors to Shah Ismail's (founder of the Safavid Empire) court. During his stay at the Shah's encampment near Tabriz, Portuguese ambassador Tenreiro described 'bottles of gold and silver with turquoises and rubies inchased upon them'1, suggesting that such objects were meant for the exclusive use of the Shah and the governing elite.
An important victory at the battle of Chaldiran on August 23, 1514 marked Selim I's (Sultan of the Ottoman Empire between 1512 and 1520) successful campaign against Shah Ismail and led to the subsequent occupation of Tabriz in Persia, during which time an important number of the Shah's treasures were captured as booty and taken back to Istanbul. Though treasure taken by Selim during the sack of Tabriz no doubt included the finest of objects, among the most precious assets sent to Istanbul were the skilled artisans who were captured and taken to work in the Sultan's workshops. Persian goldsmiths or 'Acem had been active in Istanbul as early as 1480, but it is reasonable to conclude that the influx after 1514 was crucial in establishing their prominence in the Ottoman capital.
Though its floral decoration is highly reminiscent of Ottoman fashion, the meticulous nielloed gold work recalls Safavid traditions. Its superb quality is matched only by a handful of items now at the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, with which it shares strong correlations. With its turquoise fittings, set rubies and inscriptions, the most comparable example in the museum collection is a pen case with inkwell from circa 1500, which closely resembles the present box. While academic opinion is divided as to whether the Topkapi example belonged to the Shah himself and was part of Selim's booty or attributable to an 'Acem working for the Ottoman court, the offered lot is believed to have been produced by Persian goldsmiths working for the Ottoman court.
Removed from Persia following the battle of Chaldiran and now in the Topkapi Saray Museum, the intricate and varied arabesque designs on gold of a group of plaques from a belt bearing the titles and name of Shah Ismail I, as well as an armband signed by the craftsman Nur Allah (dated 913 AH/1507-8 AD), echo the present box's layered splitpalmette scrolls in carved and inlaid gold. The parallels are even more evident in the most ornate buckle, which contains comparable blossoming rosettes set with rubies and turquoise gems. With its turquoise mosaic, ruby gems and split-palmette patterns, but particularly in the ivory filets, carefully fitted along the object's edges, this unique lost treasure also bears a strong resemblance to an equivalent important mid-16th century box in the Topkapi Saray Museum collection.
The box links the traditions of Tabriz and Istanbul and embodies a cultural merging in the stylistic evolution of Ottoman courtly art at a seminal phase in its development.
An Ottoman Ivory and Turquoise-Inlaid Box Set with Rubies, Turkey, Early 16th Century. Estimate: £500,000-700,000. Photo: Sotheby's
La Grande-Bretagne acquiert le Trésor de Staffordshire
Pyramid mounts and an inscribed strip from the Anglo-Saxon gold Staffordshire hoard which has now received a £1.3m Heritage grant to meet the £3.3m total required for it to remain in Midlands museums. Photograph: Staffordshire hoard website/PA
LONDRES (ROYAUME-UNI) [25.03.10] – Le Trésor de Staffordshire, un des plus importants trésors anglo-saxons, a été sauvé de la dispersion grâce à une subvention d’environ 1,3 millions de livres du National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).
La NHMF qui fait pourtant face à d’importants problèmes financiers – son budget ayant été réduit de moitié – a contribué à hauteur d’environ 1,3 millions de livres à la sauvegarde du trésor de Staffordshire. Cette contribution met fin à neuf mois de campagne pour conserver le Trésor sur le territoire britannique, plus précisément dans deux musées du West Midlands, région de sa découverte.
Trouvé en juin 2009 par un amateur dans la région du Staffordshire, le dépôt daté des VIIe VIIIe siècles qui se compose de 1500 objets à caractère guerrier en or (5 kg) et en argent (1,3 kg) est le plus important trésor anglo-saxon découvert à ce jour.
Déclaré trésor en septembre 2009 par le coroner – fonctionnaire chargé entre autres, de mettre en application le Treasure Act, c’est-à-dire l’ensemble de lois relatives à la découverte d’un trésor –, il devient un bien de la couronne britannique. Récupéré pour des études par le Burningham Archeology, il fait depuis, l’objet d’expositions, d’abord au Burningham Museum & Art Gallery puis au British Museum –jusqu’au 17 avril 2010.
En novembre 2009, le comité chargé d’évaluer le prix du Trésor a estimé celui-ci à plus de 3 millions de livres, somme qui devait être réunie par les musées locaux avant le 17 avril sans quoi le trésor serait alors vendu à des acheteurs privés.
Dame Jenny Abramsky s’est félicité de cette initiative en précisant au Guardian que « c’est exactement pour ce genre de chose que NHMF a été créé » et qu’il répondait ainsi à sa mission première de préservation du patrimoine national d’importance exceptionnelle en danger. La ministre de la Culture britannique, Margaret Hodge, a également salué ce geste.
Néanmoins, une somme supplémentaire d’environ 1,7 millions de livres est nécessaire pour pouvoir étudier et conserver correctement le trésor qui est loin d’avoir livré tous ses secrets.
Les 3,3 millions de livres seront partagées entre le découvreur et le propriétaire du terrain sur lequel le trésor a été découvert. www.artclair.com
Amateur metal detector unearths largest haul of gold from the period ever found – 1,500 pieces including weapons, helmet decorations, coins and Christian crosses. Photograph: PR
A dagger hilt found in the Staffordshire hoard. Photograph: PR
A detail of a fish and eagles. The first scraps of gold were found in a field by Terry Herbert, an amateur metal detector, in July. He could now be in line to share £1m with the landowner. Photograph: PR
A folded cross. Photograph: PR
A gold helmet cheekpiece. Photograph: PR
A gold hilt fitting with inlaid garnets. One expert has described the hoard as being as significant as the Book of Kells. Photograph: PR
A gold plaque with entwined and stylised arms. Photograph: PR
A gold scabbard boss with inlaid garnets. Photograph: PR
A gold strip with a biblical inscription. Photograph: PR
A pair of pyramid sword fittings. Photograph: PR
A figure of an animal, possibly from the crest of a helmet. Photograph: PR
A gold sword fitting with an inlaid garnet. Photograph: PR
A cheekpiece, fittings and zoomorphic mount. Photograph: PR
Fish and eagles. Photograph: PR
A glass chequerboard stud with a gold and garnet surround. Photograph: PR
The Prado Museum opens its new galleries dedicated to Medieval and Renaissance Spanish paintings
Nueva Sala 52A © 2010 Museo Nacional del Prado
MADRID.- The Prado Museum opens its new galleries dedicated to Medieval and Renaissance Spanish paintings. This new development plan of reorganization and expansion of collections has been given the name, "The Collection: The other extension", is yet another important phase of it, the one that completes the presentation of the collections installed on the ground floor of the Villanueva building.
With the public opening of these rooms, the Prado significantly expands the display of Spanish painting in its collection from the Romanesque to the Renaissance. A reformatted and expanded selection of works exhibited in this new exhibition space will allow visitors to conduct a thorough tour of the main currents that developed in Spain between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, beginning with the Romanesque frescoes of Santa Cruz and San Baudelio Maderuelo de Berlanga, continuing with the great altarpieces of Rodriguez de Toledo and Nicolas Frances and the paintings of Luis Alincbrot, Fernando Gallego, Bermejo, Paolo de San Leocadio, Juan Pedro Berruguete or Juan de Flandes. Well into the Renaissance and Mannerism to the new proposed route focuses on the works of Fernando Yanez, Machuca, Juan Correa de Vivar and Juan de Juanes, concluding with the boards of the spiritual mannerism by Luis de Morales, widely represented in the Prado.
The seven rooms in which it now exhibits this part of the Prado collection, most of them recovered for exhibition use due to the transfer of various technical offices to the Museum's building expansion which opened in 2007, are distributed around the Low Rotunda Goya-room which include a significant representation of classical sculpture from the Museum's collection. To accommodate these paintings and facilitate access to visitors, this area has required architectural work by Rafael Moneo, the author of the project to expand the museum, which also dealt with the new layout of room 51C, with an architectural style reminiscent of the spaces that housed the paintings of San Baudelio Romance de Berlanga (Soria) and the chapel of Santa Cruz de Maderuelo (Segovia).
Prior to performing this procedure and parallel to it, the restoration of some paintings as well as the recovery of the spectacular Gothic tracery of Santo Domingo de Silos de Bartolomé Bermejo was undertaken. Undoubtedly the most ambitious intervention has been the restoration of the frescoes in the Romanesque chapel of Maderuelo, conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE) and directed by Juan Ruiz. Added to this, the restoration done by the workshop of the Prado Museum of works by Borrassa, Guerau Gener, and Gonçal Peris, Pere Lembrí, Juan Sanchez, Juan de Nalda and the Maestros de los Luna y de Robredo.
Nueva Sala 51C. Obras de la iglesia de San Baudelio de Casillas de Berlanga y de la ermita de la Cruz de Maderuelo © 2010 Museo Nacional del Prado
Nueva Sala 51A © 2010 Museo Nacional del Prado
A man looks at Romanic mural paintings transferred from the Vera Cruz Maderuelo church in northern Spain, during a media presentation of the Prado Museum's seven new rooms dedicated to Spanish medieval and renaissance painting, in Madrid March 25, 2010. REUTERS/Susana Vera
General view of one of new rooms for Spanish painting at Prado Museum during its presentation in Madrid, Spain, on 25 March 2010. The rooms will feature Spanish paintings which were made from the Romanesque until the Reinassance. EPA/J.J.GUILLEN
