Christ Disputing in the Temple
painter
Giovanni di Paolo
(Siena, 1398 - 1482, Siena)
Dateabout 1450-1459
Place MadeSiena, Tuscany, Italy, Europe
MediumTempera on canvas on a modern panel
Dimensions26.7 x 23.6 cm (10 1/2 x 9 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP15w21
eMuseum ID726641
EmbARK ObjectID10939
TMS Source ID198
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn 1463, Giovanni di Paolo, a master painter from Siena, was selected to decorate the Pope’s newly finished church in Pienza. He excelled at narrative subjects, and this painting—from the predella, or lowest register, of a large altarpiece—is one of his finest surviving examples. Isabella and her peers, like Philip Lehman, whose distinguished collection is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, prized early Renaissance paintings from Siena for their exquisite details and jewel-like finishes. When Berenson recommended this one, he observed that Giovanni di Paolo is “all the rage now because the collectors not only of paintings, but of objets d’art are after him, and paying long prices for him.”
BibliographyNotesPhilip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), pp. 172-75. (connected to the same predella with the "Adoration of the Magi" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.60.4)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 101.
John Pope-Hennessy. Giovanni di Paolo (New York, 1938), p. 90. (in addition to the "Adoration of the Magi" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pope-Hennessy added the "Nativity" at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1943.112 to this same predella and proposed the "Baptism of Christ" at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, WA1913.2 as the center panel. Later scholars accept the association with the Metropolitan and Fogg panels, but the inclusion of the Ashmolean "Baptism" is open to debate. See Christiansen 1984 and Christiansen et al. 1988)
Stuart Preston. "The Child Jesus Disputing in the Temple" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 9.
Cesare Brandi. "Giovanni di Paolo, II." Le Arti (III, 5, 1951), p. 321, no. 58. (dated as after 1461)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 46 (14 Jul. 1963), pp. 1-2.
Rollin Hadley. "Giovanni Di Paolo." Fenway Court (Oct. 1967), pp. 49-56, ill. 52.
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 92-93.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 106-107.
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 38-39. (as "Christ Disputing in the Temple" being the center of the predella and dated as about 1472)
Keith Christiansen in Philippe de Montebello. Notable Acquisitions 1983-1984 (New York, 1984), p. 45-46. (proposed "Presentation in the Temple" from Colle di Val d'Elsa, Siena Pinacoteca as the center panel)
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 421-22, 424-25.
Keith Christiansen et al. Painting in Renaissance Siena 1420-1500. Exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988), pp. 209-210. (Christiansen suggested "Crucifixion" at Christ Church, Oxford as the center panel, but Strehkle considers the "Presentation in the Temple" from Colle di Val d'Elsa, Siena Pinacoteca as the most likely candidate. Dated as 1454-1460)
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 46-47. (probably "Presentation in the Temple," Siena Pinacoteca as the center of the pradella)
Laurence Kanter. "Giovanni di Paolo, Christ Disputing in the Temple" in Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Italian Paintings and Drawings Before 1800 in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Unpublished manuscript. (Boston, 1996-2000). (thinks the "Crucifixion" at Christ Church, Oxford is the most likely center panel, dated as 1454-1459)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 101.
John Pope-Hennessy. Giovanni di Paolo (New York, 1938), p. 90. (in addition to the "Adoration of the Magi" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pope-Hennessy added the "Nativity" at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1943.112 to this same predella and proposed the "Baptism of Christ" at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, WA1913.2 as the center panel. Later scholars accept the association with the Metropolitan and Fogg panels, but the inclusion of the Ashmolean "Baptism" is open to debate. See Christiansen 1984 and Christiansen et al. 1988)
Stuart Preston. "The Child Jesus Disputing in the Temple" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 9.
Cesare Brandi. "Giovanni di Paolo, II." Le Arti (III, 5, 1951), p. 321, no. 58. (dated as after 1461)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 46 (14 Jul. 1963), pp. 1-2.
Rollin Hadley. "Giovanni Di Paolo." Fenway Court (Oct. 1967), pp. 49-56, ill. 52.
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 92-93.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 106-107.
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1981), pp. 38-39. (as "Christ Disputing in the Temple" being the center of the predella and dated as about 1472)
Keith Christiansen in Philippe de Montebello. Notable Acquisitions 1983-1984 (New York, 1984), p. 45-46. (proposed "Presentation in the Temple" from Colle di Val d'Elsa, Siena Pinacoteca as the center panel)
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 421-22, 424-25.
Keith Christiansen et al. Painting in Renaissance Siena 1420-1500. Exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988), pp. 209-210. (Christiansen suggested "Crucifixion" at Christ Church, Oxford as the center panel, but Strehkle considers the "Presentation in the Temple" from Colle di Val d'Elsa, Siena Pinacoteca as the most likely candidate. Dated as 1454-1460)
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 46-47. (probably "Presentation in the Temple," Siena Pinacoteca as the center of the pradella)
Laurence Kanter. "Giovanni di Paolo, Christ Disputing in the Temple" in Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Italian Paintings and Drawings Before 1800 in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Unpublished manuscript. (Boston, 1996-2000). (thinks the "Crucifixion" at Christ Church, Oxford is the most likely center panel, dated as 1454-1459)
ProvenanceNotesProbably part of an altarpiece first recorded in 1862 in the Conservatorio di San Pietro at Colle Val d'Elsa, Siena.
Collection of the dealer Sir George Donaldson, London (1845–1925) before 1908.
Purchased by the art dealers Thomas Agnew & Sons, London from Sir George Donaldson in 1908.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Agnew & Sons, London on 20 July 1908 for £405 through Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), American art historian.
Collection of the dealer Sir George Donaldson, London (1845–1925) before 1908.
Purchased by the art dealers Thomas Agnew & Sons, London from Sir George Donaldson in 1908.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Agnew & Sons, London on 20 July 1908 for £405 through Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), American art historian.
Andrea Mantegna
about 1497-1500
Object/Provenance
