Fenway Court: 1973

Fenway Court Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 1973

Fenway Court

~ENWAY

COURT

Isabella Stewart Gardner JVIuseum

Published by the Trustees of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Incorporated Boston, Massachusetts Copyright 1974 Designed by Larry Webster Type set and printed by Thomas Todd Co., Printers, Boston

Photographs by Larry Webster Frontispiece: The main gate p. 42 : The greenhouse from the Rose Garden p . 44 : A mirror image of Sargent' s El Jaleo from the Eas t Cloister p. 50 : Court w indows in the Gothic Room p. 55: Cymbidiums in the Court

Photog ra phs by Joseph B. Pratt p. 46 : The textile wo rkroom p. 49 : The head gardener p . 53 : The fountain in the Monks' Garden

Cover: The Kiss of Judas, detail from the XV century retable from Lorraine

Contents

2.

Three Sculptors of the Veneta Represented at Fenway Court

9. A French Limestone Retable of the Early Sixteenth Century 18. Restoration of a Retable from Lorraine 21.

Judith E. Hanhisalo

Joyce L. Haynes

36. A Fine and Private Press : The Kelmscott Generation

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Incorporated Forty-ninth Annual Report for the Year 1973 43 . Report of the President 45 . Report of the Director

G. Peabody Gardner Rollin van N. Hadley

50. Note on the Organization of the Museum

52. Publications 54. Trustees and Staff

Naomi Miller

Pam M . Peterson

New Thoughts on Four Roman Thrones

30. The Sacred Beetle

Ulrich Middeldorf

Maureen Cunninghgm

Three Sculptors of the Veneta Represented at ~enway

Among the sculptures at Fenway Court wh ich still wait to be attributed to an artist or at least to be retraced to their places of origin are several pieces from Venice and th e Veneta for which reason able proposals can be made.

Th e two half-fi gures of an Ann unciation in b uff-colored calcareous stone (Figs. 1-2) acqu ired in 1890 in Venice from Consiglio Richetti at once recall two similar figures by Tullio Lombardo (Fig. 3) on the balustrade of S. Maria dei Miracoli in Venice (L. Planiscig, Ve nezianische Bildhauer der R enaissance, Vienna, 1921, figs. 251-52).

Like th em they are worked together with a piece of an entablature and thus reveal themselves as having originally been part of a similar structure like that in Venice. However, though their motifs and their style are close to Tullio Lombardo, they do not compare in quality with his work.

They seem to be the works of an imitator wh o greatly simplified the style of the master. Above all, he avoided the free movement of the arms and pressed them closely against the bodies, thus keeping the figures within the bounds of compact blocks.

2

Court

This simplicity suggests looking for the sculptor in not- too-close a neighbourhood to the Venetian master. And indeed, it is in Friuli where almost identical pieces, still in their original position, are found, the work of a local sculptor of undoubtedly Venetian training, Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte (ca. 1455-1531). As Angels Bearing Candlesticks (Fig. 4), they decorate the railings of the Capella de! Carmine in the cathedral of Spilimbergo (signed and dated 1498) ; others, very similar to ours, representing like them the Annunciation (Fig . 5), stand on the balustrade of an altar in the church of S. Andrea Apostoli in Sequals (signed and dated 1504) . They are reproduced in a book on the artist by Giuseppe Bergamini (Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte Lapicida, Udine, 1970, pis. XLII-XLIX and LXXIII-LXXV). The similarity is so close that no long analysis is needed to demon strate it. As on the balustrade in Venice our figures, like the ones in Friuli, were placed at the end or the corner of an elaborate communion rail in matching stone. Their mouldings and the few elegantly carved leaves on their frieze match to perfection those in Spilimbergo. There can be n o doubt that Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte, lapicida (stonemason) as he was called, is the author of our two pieces.

F1:111 e; 1-2. , 路u 路c1 \TIO~. attributed to Giovanni Antonio Pilacorte, stone, the Angel (Inv. o. 527e45-s) and the \'irgin (Inv. o. 527e47-s), ca. H. 22", \'\'. 10", D. 6 路 \" (.975 x .255 x .17 rn.). Long Gallery, Isabella lc\\,ut Gardner , lu eurn.

3

Figure 3. ANNUNCIATION by Tullio Lombardo, S. Maria dei Miracoli, Venice. (Alinari-Art R eference Bureau)

Figure 4. ANGELS BEARING CANDLESTICKS b y Pilacorte

(1498), Capella de! Carmin e, Duomo, Spilimbergo.

(Photos by Elio] Ciel, reproduced in G. Bergamini, 1970, pis. XLVI-XLVII)

4

Fig ure 5. ANNUNCIATION by Pilacorte (1504), s.

Andrea Apostoli, Sequals. (Bergamini, pis. LXXIVLXXV)

Figure 6. MADONNA DELLA RuOTA DELLA CARITA by Giovanni Maria Mosca, Is trian s tone, 1522, Inv. No. 512s4, overall H . 65", H . of main panel : 38Yi\", W. of main p an el : 40", D. 3 0'' (1.65 x .975 x 1.015 x 0.9 m.). West Cloister, Isa bella Stewart Gardner Museum.

II

There is nothing so instructive as reading collections of ancient documents. They give an insight into the life of a period ; moreover, for somebody with a fair memory, they m ay evoke associations which occasionally lead to the identification of a work thought to be lost. This h appened when I was browsing again in the mas terly work by Pietro Paoletti, L' architettura e la scultura del Rinascimento in Venezia (Venice, 1893).

In a footnote on page 201 I read of some documents which at once called to m y m ind the beautiful Istrian stone relief of the Madonna de /la Ruota della Carita of 1522 (Fig. 6) which, despite the many pointers such as the m otif of the figure, the coat of arms, and the date, h ad rem ain ed anonymous.

T he documents printed by Paoletti say that in Zoan Maria da Padova made for the fai;ade of some buildi ngs at the Ponte de Ferali, which were owned by the Scuola della Carita, a relief three feet square with the Virgin holding the sign of the Carita. In this, moreover, are specifically mentioned the base composed of a cornice and a bracke t, the cornice on top, and the coat of arms, which was tha t of a manufacturer of objects in rock crystal, Paolo da Mon te, who h ad left money for such work. The coat of arms, of course, is a canting one; its three mountains allude to the name of the donor of whom otherwise no thing is k nown. Further details are: a piece of serpentine or porph yry was in serted in the oval opening above the shield ; the sculpture was painted and gilt. The total p rice unfor tunately was n ot given.

1522

5

Figure 7. D eta il of the Madonna a nd Child from Th e Madonna and Ch ild with Four Sain ts by Benedetto D ia na, Accademia, Veni ce. (Alinari-Art Reference Bureau)

the relief of a Miracle of S. A nthony in the Santo in Padua, which was commissioned a few years before but finish ed much later. Still there are points of contact in the exquisite proportion, the elegance of the ornament, the technical neatness, and the fine taste, which are characteristic for all his later work (Planiscig, op. cit., pp. 259 ff.).

And as always in Venice parallels in painting can be found, in Alvine Vivarini, Lazzaro Bastiani, Mansuetti, etc. And certainly Benedetto Diana's pictures (Fig. 7) can be compared, so that the suggestion that he furnished the drawing might find confirmation (B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the R enaissance, Ven etian School, London, 1957, I, pp. 73-74, figs . 376-82).

There are part payments to the sculptor, p ayments to assistants, to the painter and to the gilder, and a rather high on e with a puzzling notation to the painter Benedetto Dia na, perhaps for the model drawing. The indication tha t the relief was to be three fee t square (about 1 .05 m.) corresponds with the relief without b ase and top which measures about 1 .02 m . square. Paoletti in 1893 said that the relief h ad been sold abroad ; in fact it was purch ased by Mrs. Gardner from A. Clerle in Venice in 1897.

The Scuola della Carita was attach ed to the ch urch of S. Maria della Carita; its upper assembly room today is the fi rst room of the Gallery of the Academy . The Ponte and Rio de Ferali (of the lan tern and torch mak ers) was close to the church of S. Giuliano (G. Tassini, Curiosita V eneziane, 6th ed ., Venice, 1933, pp. 141-42, 259-60) .

Giovanni Maria Mosca, or Zoan M aria da Padova, as he is called in the documents, is a most interesting Venetian sculptor of the early sixteenth century. The M adonn a della Carita is one of his earliest works, which h as little in common not only with his later production, b ut also with 6

III The last piece to be discussed takes us back into the province, and back in time. It is a tabernacle (Figs. 8-9) in calcareous stone of considerable size. A tripartite structure is framed by an elaborate architecture. Its central niche contains the opening, once, of course, closed by a door either of metal or of wood suitably painted, perhaps showing a chalice. Above is the Man of Sorrows. In the niche to the left is the Baptist, to the right a young Knightly Saint. On the pinnacles of the three gables out of clusters of foliage grow the half-figures of the Annunciation with God the Father holding the dove of the Holy Ghost in the middle. The decorative elements, as the fine flamboyant tracery, the rinceaux of the base, the exuberant crockets on the gables and on both sides, the twisted columns are all Gothic in origin, but are used here in a free, picturesque way typical for the beginning of the fifteenth century; the three shells crowning the niches are already a concession to the Renaissance. By rule of thumb one would date the piece in the first half of the fifteenth century.

Figure 8. TABERNACLE, attributed to Bartolomeo Giolfino, limestone, Inv. No. S12n5, H . 92", W . 63" (2.335 x 1.60 m.). West Cloister, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Figure 9. The same altarpiece in the garden at Green Hill, Brookline, where it was out of doors for several years. (Museum archives)

Such tabernacles carved in stone are comparatively rare, but can be found in all Northern Italy, in Liguria and Piedmont, in Lombardy and in the Veneta. Since that in Boston was bought in 1897 in Venice from Antonio Carrer, it is in the Veneta that we ought to look for its author. There are a number of names which suggest themselves.

The writer of these lines at one time thought of a certain Niccolo da Cornedo, a stone mason active in and around Vicenza at the appropriate time. Franco Barbieri (II Mu seo Civico di Vicenz a, Dipinti, etc., Venice, 1962, p . 192 and in a letter of 20 August 1973 to the museum) , however, has sorted out this artis t and given him a better marked physiognomy, which does not allow for works like ours.

Decorative elements and figures of comparative style occur in the works of a member of a prolific family of artists in Verona, Bartolomeo Giolfino (ca. 1410-1486). The fragments of his tabernacle of 1433 in the church of Colognola (G . Fogolari, Bollettino d' Arte, III, 1909, p . 390, ill.) has the same idiosyncratic details as ours, in particular the flamboyant finials above the shells 7

Figure 10. FRAGMENTS OF ATABERNACLE, by Bartolomeo Giolfino (1433), stone, parish church of Colognola.

Figure 11. ALTARPIECE by Bartolomeo Giolfino (1470), wood, Accademia, Venice. (Alinari-Art Reference Bureau)

topping the niches (Fig. 10). Another ascribed to Bartolomeo is in the Abbey of 5. Peter' s in Villanova near 5 . Bonifacio (Photo Frick Library. See C. P. Bianchi, San Bonifacio, Verona, 1970, p . 26, with a wrong attribution to a later member of the family) is clumsier, but has similar niches, flanked by twisted columns. Even so late a work of his as the large wooden altarpiece (Fig. 11) in the Academia in Venice, dated 1470 (Fogolari, op. cit., pp. 167 ff.) preserves the same general structure and many details, e.g., the fine tracery (Ibid. , p. 389, ill.). The figures in these are not incompatible with those of ours, though they are of a rather eclectic s tyle which tells less than the architectural and decorative mo tifs. We may be sure that in such works a great number of helpers lent assistance. The slender proportions of the figures in our tabernacle are closer to those of the altarpiece of 1470 than to those of the earlier ones. Hence an equidistant date of about 1450 might suggest itself.

These well documented examples of Renaissance sculpture from Venice and the Veneta contribute essentially to the suggestive Venetian atmosphere created by Mrs. Gardner at Fenway Court.

Ulrich Middeldorf 8

Figure 1. RETABLE, limestone, French, 1507, H. 31", L. 9', D. BY," (0.800 x 1.690 x 0.255 m.), Inv. No. S31e6.

Third Floor Stair Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

JI Trench Limestone Retable of the Early 0ixteenth Century An early sixteenth century French retable of painted limestone (Fig. 1) may be found on the Third Floor Stair Hall of the Gardner Museum.

Three disparate scenes executed in a late Gothic manner are encased within a Renaissance frame.

It is a concrete example of the process of transition from old to new - the late medieval within alien sixteenth century boundaries. So seductive is the amalgam of these separate elements that the apparent provincial quality might initially be overlooked. However, by exploring the stylistic and iconographical origins and the meaning of this retable, it is now possible to place it in its proper historical perspective.

Purchased by Mrs . Gardner from the Emile Peyre collection in Paris in 1897, the polychrome sculptured retable is well preserved though minor damage exists as may be seen in the illustration.

Traces of the original paint appear throughout in heightened pastel pinks and blues, umber, black and gold. Its provenance is unknown, but the inscription in Gothic letters at the base provides a clue: Lasi · este · pfartte · et · mise · le · cinquiesne · ]our · daou s t ·Lan ·mil · cinq · Cens ·et ·Sept · Noblies · pas les · trespasses ·

The mos t probable translation is: " This is completed and placed on the fifth day of A ugu st the year 1507. Do not forget the dead ." The fi rst three words are unclear as a re individual letters.

This inscription is set between alternating coats of arms located beneath each of the fo ur pilas ters of the frame and depicting three silver stars on a field of blue above an uproo ted t ree on a gold ground. The cres t m ay be identified as the arms of the Arna! family, m ore specifically Arna! de Serres of Languedoc, captain of a frigate at Toulon (J . B. Rietstap, A rmorial General, Gouda, 1884 and Etat Presen t de la Nob lesse Fran~aise, Paris, 1868, p. 161) . The same insignia is twice repeated in the latticed window at the rear of the central compartment. Hence the emphasis of the work as a memorial for family members appears evident, though its exact place within a chapel is difficult to ascertain - the incomple ted lateral parts indicating a position originally set within the wall.

The Annunciatio n panel, occupying the central partition, forms the focus of the altar. However, the two slightly narrower side panels soon compete for attention as do the dividing pilasters.

Richly adorned with candelabra and grotesque 9

Detail of Figure l. Presentation of the H ead of John t h e Bap tist to Salome and Feast of H erod. The head of the execution er h as been lost.

motifs, these architectonic framing devices are crowned by capitals of differing flora a nd fauna and the bust of a praying angel, and, in turn, by an elaborate cornice of bead and reel and egg and dart beneath a corona carved with a row of Gothic crockets. The depth and frame of the altar are sufficiently forceful to unite the profusion of the three deeply recessed parts, which combine figures in the round against a background set in high relief and partially detached. Three different subjects are presented : the Baptism of Christ, the Annunciation to the Virgin, and the Presentation of the Head of John the Baptist to Salome, with the Feast of Herod in the background. The style changes from scene to scene, from an almost schematic depiction at the left to a highly descriptive realism at the right. While the firs t two parts are equal in depth, with a similar emphasis on the shell framework, the latter two are united in their concern with perspective and illusionistic architectural space. Still, the square tiles while receding to the horizon line in Albertian mode are inconsistent with other space defining elements of the interiors.

The baptismal scene is the most confined in spatial intent. Though set outdoors with a constricted view of the banks of the Jordan (which naively rises in height to indicate depth) , it is overpowered by an enormous niche in the form of a shell, surrounded by five cherubs in the spandrels. S. John at the left, a fluted bowl poised in his right hand over the head of Jes us, is very much in the fifteenth century Italian manner. An archaically draped Angel, his blue scarf tied in a bow knot, attends at the right. A species of shamrock is seen at the foot of the Angel, while the Baptist seems to be treading on overgrown plantain. Alternating with the shell fluting are painted wavy beams which may be freely interpreted as conventionalized clouds or descending rays of the Holy Spirit.

The Annunciation to the Virgin is staged within a rich domestic interior. Mary kneels before a prie-dieu on which the book has been placed at the sudden and tentative appearance of the A ngel, who half alights, half stands at the right. The "doll's parlor" effect (as coined by Panofsk y) is enhanced by the architectural details and the pavement tiles. Mary's kinship to Flemish models, especially to the Virgin of Humility apparent in h er modest, withdrawn expression, downcast eyes, contained gestures and generally subm issive attitude - is made more manifest by her ambiguous stance, her placement on the left and a domestic rather than an ecclesiastical setting in the Flemish or Burgundian mode. Here is the bourgeois living room of the Merode altarpiece (note especially the lattice shutters and the armorial bearings) , the shell above, the window between two columns, one fluted, one plain ; or Rogier van der Weyden's Louvre Annunciation, with b asically similar poses; or Jean Delemer' s sculpture of 1428 depicting S. Marie Magdalene at Tournai. Compare, too, the posture of Mary to that of the Angel in the left panel of Rogier's Columba altarpiece in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. But despite all the Flemish quotations, the Angel approaching on the right is more frequent in France, although it does appear on occasion in the Netherlands, n otably on Hugo van der Goes' Portinari altarpiece in the Uffizi and in Italy in Andrea de! Sarto's Annunciation in the Pitti Palace. (See E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, I, pp. 44, 142 ff., 254, 344 and note 4 . Also compare the Aix Annunciation, p . 307, staged in a thalamus v irginis, transposed to the mystical ch amber of Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini wedding portrait, p.

203.) Architecturally, the interior h as features which are also indigenous to ecclesiastical environments, such as shells and leaded glass panes.

Above the carved frieze, a Junette contains a 11

figure of God the Father within an aureole ; his left hand holds an orb, his right hand once held a book or other object. Angels - one with hands folded in prayer, the other with arms crossed again adorn the corner spandrels, while breaks in the stone indicate missing elements on either side of the Godhead.

The right panel with its scenes relating to the Feast of Herod and the Presentation of the Head of John the Baptist to. Salome is based on an episode treated in the Gospels and in Fla vi us Josephus, A ntiquities of the Jew s, VIII, 5 , 2 . Artistically, it is the most intriguing of all; its interior is structurally rich, fanciful, and complex.

Once again, the artist seems to be more enamoured of the mores, theatrics and costumes than of the incidents related in the Scriptures. He has omitted the violent gesture of the henchman the actual decapitation. Instead he has depicted in more or less genre fashion the turreted stairway leading past the shoes of a figure now missing, on up the flight past a jester, prone and peering out, to the feast of King Herod and Herodias. The pair are seated in the upper rear space beneath the beautiful tracery of a Gothic canopy; a servant appears a t their right. The scene and its relation to the background is vaguely reminiscent of the ambiance the royal couple occupy in Donatello's Feast of Herod in the Siena pulpit, without even a glimmer of the latter's dramatic power. Spatial elements are further defined and confused in the circular stairwell which connects, and separates via an unclear rendering of three fluted columns, the mise-enscene of the feast to the main event - the executioner's placement of the head of John the Baptist on a platter. By the almost ninety-degree twist of her head, Salome physically accepts but psychically appears to reject the offering. Another structural feature adding to the lack of clarity is the angular prison tower with its barred 12

window at the left. Representing Machaerus, the fortress castle in which John was imprisoned, it is here adorned with a figure of the Venus pudica type. Behind and between the two main protagonists, a fluted column or pier is visible.

The juxtaposition of so many elements in one compartment is medieval, as is the overwhelming concern with minutiae, vaguely echoing the House of Jacques Coeur in Bourges. A knowledge of earlier versions of the events in the life of the Baptist is evident: the pose of Salome, her face averted from the charger in her hands is fairly common in contemporary renderings. Note particularly that the Gardner scene is the reverse of Rogier van der Weyden's S. John Altarpiece, Berlin-Dahlem (Fig. 2), where the two episodes are interwoven into one. The widespread influence of prints at this time suggests a source for the representation. Although the actual moment of the beheading is omitted, the victim remains, and the focal point of the drama becomes the presentation to Salome. As in the Rogier, the head of Salome is " averted from the charger in her hands." (Panofsky, op. cit., p. 281, cites the "gyratory contrapposto movement, expressive of a fastidious reluctance, not experienced by preRogierian Salomes, on the part of the 'daughter of Herodias.' " ) Rogier's influence is also felt in God the Father appearing in the clouds and in the dove of the Holy Spirit descending from the heavens. A similar representation scene within an elaborate architectural framework, replete with Herod, Herodias and the servant, is found in the castellated background of an Israhel van Meckenem engraving (Fig. 3) from his Scenes from Life of the Baptist (Hugo Daffner, Salom e, Munich, 1912, p. 125).

Theatrical presentations might well have influenced these scenes, for the life of John was often performed in plays portraying the mystery of the Passion in Germany and France in the fifteenth

Figure 2. Rogier van der Weyden, Beheading of S. John (detail), right wing of the 5. John Altarpiece, ca. 1455. Staatliche Museen, BerlinDahlem. (Marburg 84552)

Figure 3. Israhel van Meckenem, Dance of Herodias, engraving. (Courtesy of Bruckmann-Art Reference Bureau)

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(Courtesy of Bruckmann-A rt Referen ce Bureau)

century. In O skar Thulin, Johannes der Taiifer im Ceistlichen S chauspiel des Mittelalters und der R eformationzeit (Leipzig, 1930, pp. 83 ff ., 115 ff.), we find notices of these dramas in Arras, Semur, A vignon, Mende, Chaumont and Lyon in France a nd in numerous towns in Germany. An example is the frontispiece of the Tragoedia Joannis ... 1549 (Fig. 4) which presents another variatio n of the theme depicted in the Gardner retable (Oaffner, op. cit., p. 139) . The later date demons trates the perpetuation of similar elements: the dress has changed but personae and a ttitudes remain more or less the same.

No t only a re these three scenes stylistically incompa tible with each other, moving as they do from Gothic ltalo-French to Flemish-Burgundian to Germa n ; they are also incompatible individually. The oval heads have the smoothness and geometric perfec tion of forms turned on a lathe, sim ilar to the wooden likenesses of Geertgen tot Sint Jans. The fi gures too are discordant. For example, the forms of the baptising John and the Virgin a re less antiquated, their drapery more na tu ra listic. At the same time there is a charming simplici ty in the parallelism and linearity of the draped Angels, especially diverting in such details as the archaic rendering of the hair and the costumes datable to the Flemish-Burgundian phase of the period of Louis XII (1462-1515).

Incong ruities in s tyle are more than matched by those in meaning, beginning with the appearance of the baptismal scene at the left, where one would expect to view the Epiphany. In no other altar or retable have I been able to find the particular concurrence of these three episodes from the three cycles of the New Testament consecrated to a single person. (See 5. J. Raoul Plus, Johannes d er Taiifer in der Kunst, Colmar, 1938; and Alexandre Masseron, S aint-Jean Baptiste dans I' A rt, Paris, 1957. For Italian versions, see Estelle Hurll, Th e Life of Our Lord in Art, Boston, New

York, 1899.) Scenes from the life of the Baptist would have included the Annunciation to Zacharias, the initial moment of the Christian drama, rather than the Annunciation to the Virgin, although the same Angel, Gabriel, appears to both Zacharias and to Mary. Could the artist have intended a more specific meaning in the juxtaposition of these particular events? S. John the Baptist is, in Paradise, first after the Virgin, and only with the Mother of God is there the same purification from original sin. Furthermore, the Baptist is he who announced the Christ and the New Law. And too, John's work culminates in the Baptism of Christ, a dominant event both in the life of Christ and in that of the Saint, signifying a death to the old life and a rebirth in the new.

Could the emphasis on John the Baptist be a prelude to the greater birth and baptism and mission of Christ (announced in the central scene), to the point where " he must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3 :30)? In all four Gospels, John's baptism of Christ becomes the moment when the Lord is possessed with the Spirit for His Messianic fire (James Hastings, A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, New York, 1924, p .

361. Also, Masseron, op. cit., pp. 9-10, 18, 42).

The connection with the altar's inscription is apparent in the baptismal scene. Thus the aspect of repentance is accented ("And were baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." - Matthew 3 :6), and is perhaps reinforced by the barely visible statue of the immodest Venus. But the descent into the Jordan is also a descent into the waters of death (Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and Profane, New York, 1957, pp. 133-36, " The Paradigmatic History of Baptism"). May this symbolic death and resurrection, prefigured by the enormous shell in the baptismal panel, be compared to the death of John in the right panel, thus marking a beginning and an end on another sphere?

The presence of both the Virgin and Christ on this retable also stresses John's role as the intercessor between them. Does this altar subtly explain these very relationships by depicting the Angel Gabriel making his Annunciation to Mary instead of to Zacharias? Are there recondite implications in the Annunciation enclosed by scenes of water and blood? Is the cleansing rite of Baptism rather than its initiatory aspect thereby implied? Does this altar emphasize the Messianic character of John's preaching by the focus on the Annunciation?

In the Gospels, the decapitation occurs in prison and is separate from the presentation of the head to Salome. Here the two scenes are united in one. This survival of a more medieval mode is not uncommon, particularly in the fifteenth century, when the then popular story was often illustrated in the Netherlands and in Germany.

(Ernest Razy, Saint Jean-Baptiste, Sa Vie, Son Culte et Sa Ugende Artistique, Paris, 1880, p. 585, reproduces the Feast of Herod in the Chronique de Nuremberg, p. 94.) Compare, for example, Memling's Beheading of S. John the Baptist (Fig. 5), the left wing of the Mystic Marriage of S. Catherine in Bruges, for its sweetness and gore; and the scenes from the life of S. John the Baptist on the fifteenth century choir relief of Amiens, a city in which the cult of John was prevalent (C. Salmon, Histoire du Chef de Saint Jean-Baptiste conserve Amiens depuis le 17 dee. 1206, Amiens, 1876). For portrayals of Salome, see Nanette B. Rodney, " Salome," Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, March 1953, pp. 190-200.

Both the persistence of the legend of S. John and the pictorial details of the retable lead us to look for German analogues and surely a number exist: to cite but two, the Scenes of the Life of S. John the Baptist by Heinrik Funhof in the Church of S. John, Li.ineberg, and the Betrothal

a

15

Figure 5. Hans Memling, Beheading of 5. John (detail), left wing of the Triptych of the Mystic Marriage of 5 . Catherine, 1479. Hospital of 5.

John, Bruges. (Bulloz 50015)

by the Master of the House Book, ca. 1480 (H. Landolt, German Painting. T'1e Late Middle Ages (1350-1500), Geneva, 1968, pp . 107 and 122).

The pseudo-courtly mannerism of the Master of the House Book evokes comparison with the Gardner retable, especially such particulars as the cross patterning of Salome's headgear in contras t to that of the bride in the print. In fact, Salome's unusual costume should be indicative of a specific time and place. At first, the tunic, a hybrid between an apron and a coat of mail, lends a strangely rus tic quality to the figure . A perusal of sixteenth century northern Salomes shows a number of this type, cut in such a fashion as to suggest a schematic veil. But the Gardner retable is for the most part not at all typical of the German scl111itzaltar with its marriage of painting and sculpture, its wings, and its flamboyant Gothic tracery.

The Gardner retable is a beguiling provincial work. While its form is rare, it lacks coherence and originality. It reflects contemporary tendencies of both Burgundian and Italian stone sculpture, the former in its figural compositions, the latter in its typical Renaissance frame. Because of the coat of arms, a provenance around Provence or Savoie or the environs of the Cote d'Azur from Nice to Marseilles may be hypothesized. This is mos t likely the work of Italian artisans from the Ligurian coast who migrated to France in the early years of the sixteenth century. Reminiscent of the frame of the Gardner retable is the more refined pilaster illustrated by Paul Vitry and Gas ton Briere (Documents de Sculpture Fran~aise, Part I, Paris, 1911, pl. I, 1) from the Chapelle Saint Lazare, Eglise de la Major, Marseilles, attributed to Francesco Laurana and his s tudio, dated 1481. Another source may be Jerome Pacherot, who directed a large atelier in Genoa, including such artists as the Gaggini, whose principal role was the creation 16

Figure 6. Michele Colombe, S. George and the Dragon, 1508, marble, from the Chateau de Gaillon. Louvre, Paris. (Alinari 22264, courtesy of Alinari-Art Reference Bureau)

of works based largely on the decorative repertoire of North Italian engravings. As an example, the narrative of Michele Colombe's 5.

George and the Dragon (Fig. 6) from the upper chapel of Gaillon was encased in a Renaissance frame, the work of the Genoese studio in 1508.

While similar sculptural precedents are rare, the general vocabulary of the Gardner retable is certainly quattrocentesque. Elements of the framework are ubiquitous, and at times the structure appears to be a crude transformation of a Giovanni della Robbia triptych, with its shell formations, winged angel heads and architectural details - to cite but one possible prototype.

Despite its possible Provenc;:al origins, the Gardner retable seems to be substantially in debt to Burgundian stylistic influences and FlemishGerman iconographic precedents. Probably working from contemporary paintings and prints, the unknown sculptor produced a studio piece for a wealthy burgher to serve as an altarpiece dedicated to S. John the Baptist. He converted the illusionism of fifteenth century Flemish painting into a " real" world of make-believe, and herein lies the retable's fascination. May we transpose this impressive retable, now so inappropriately perched on a triad of Istrian stone capitals in the

Venetian Gothic style, to a more suitable location above the family tomb in a chapel of a country church?

In all probability, the artist has combined three separate scenes to conform to his own personal aesthetic, thereby producing this eclectic late Gothic work. The focus is on the particular rather than on consistent form or innovation or program. By encasing the Biblical narratives in an Italianate frame, the Gardner retable restates the ever recurrent problem of the provincial master, conscious of the mainstream, who aspires to a mode he can neither fully understand or imitate.

Despite its relative nai:vete, the altar does reflect the conflicts and confusions of an age in transition artistically, the approaching of the Renaissance and the waning of the Middle Ages.

Naomi Miller

Note: My sincere thanks to Ulrich Middeldorf and Donald Stone for their help in deciphering the inscription, and to the director of the Museum for introducing me to this retable and for the information found in the Museum archives, the preliminary notes by Adolph Goldschmidt, dated 1 July 1928, and further notes by Erwin 0.

Christensen.

Restoration of a Retable from Lorraine In 1971 a decision was made to remove the paint from the fifteenth century retable in the East Cloister. It has long been thought that the limestone sculpture was not meant to be painted; that its polychrome appearance was a later addition, done to keep the retable up to date with stylistic changes.

Bought by Mrs. Gardner at the sale of the Emile Peyre collection in Paris in 1897, the retable comes from Lorraine and can be dated to the end of the first quarter of the fifteenth century. Walter Cahn, in his research for the museum's forthcoming sculpture catalogue, has traced the retable to an atelier of sculptors active in Lorraine and Champagne, whose production has been carefully studied by Dr. Helga Hoffman. The sculpture depicts scenes from the Passion of Christ in nine compartments, with the Crucifixion at the center.

The donors appear on either end, identified by their coat of arms.

The retable has been restored many times, the lost areas filled with stucco, remodeled and 18

repainted. The retable itself also has been repainted. From its earliest examination at the museum the paint was suspect. Arthur Goldschmidt saw the work in 1928 and stated, " Several parts of the faces, ... have been restored in stucco, and the whole has been repainted (originally probably without paint)." In 1936 Erwin Christensen noted, " The remains of paint are from several later restorations, as the retable was not originally painted." Walter Cahn further confirmed these opinions in 1971, writing, " There are some unsightly repairs in plaster and the polychromy is modern. There is no evidence that it was orginally painted." In addition, the paint that remained was in very poor condition, severely chipped and flaking, and generally distracting to the overall appearance of the retable.

The procedure for removing the paint from the retable was straightforward and slow. A combination of solvents, available in a commercial paint remover, was applied with a cotton swab. This softened the paint, which could then

RETABLE WITH SCENES OF THE PASSION, limestone, Lorraine, ca. 1425, H . 31", L. 108", D. BY," (0.785 x 2.745 x 0.215 m.), Inv. No. S9n5. East Cloister, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

A view of the retable before cleaning.

Detail of the retable during cleaning: the Flagellation and Christ Bearing the Cross.

be gently lifted from the stone with a small knife.

This application and removal was done bit by bit, working in each compartment of the retable, from top to bottom. Stoddard solvent was used to stop the action of the paint remover when an area was cleaned. Another solvent, morpholine, was used to bleach the areas of stone where oil from the oil base paint had left a stain.

As the work progressed, it became even more apparent that this sculpture was not meant to be

hidden under layers of paint. The retable is carved in a delicate manner, with delightful details. Many areas, from the intricate curls of hair on John the Baptist's sheepskin to the buttons and buttonholes on clothing of members of the crowd around Christ, were obscured. With the completion of the restoration, the retable may now be seen as a whole, relying for its impact on strong narrative and fine carving.

Pam M. Peterson

20

New Thoughts on 'Four Roman Thrones

Throughout Western history the throne has been associated with persons of the highest rank: gods, kings, heroes, and priests. From the majestically uncomfortable stone chair in the Palace of Minos at Knossos, ca. 1500 B.C., to the sixth century A.O. ivory cathedra of the Archbishop Maximian of Ravenna, the ancient world abounded in elaborate, imposing, and often beautiful chairs for the mighty. The Greeks divided chairs into three categories : the thronos reserved for rulers, for cult statues of the gods, and for the wealthy in their homes; the klismos, or easy chair, with a reclining back, for the average citizen's unpretentious comfort; the humble diphros, a backless rectangular stool for servants, slaves, and the less fortunate (G . M. A. Richter, The Furniture of the Greeks and Romans, London, 1966, pp. 14-15).

Thrones came in various styles, depending upon their purpose, but most had straight backs, open-work arms, and either plain or carved legs.

A special type of throne was reserved for cult rituals and for the use of influential and honored persons in public gathering places, especially theatres. These were more solid and block-like in form, with the arms and legs simply continuations of the back and seat without open spaces.

They were semi-cylindrical or rectangular in shape, and plain or, depending on the period, decorated with relief carvings.

A marble throne carved in medium relief, said to be from Telesina in southern Italy, is situated to the east of the central mosaic pavement in the Court of the Gardner Museum (Fig. 1). A Latin inscription on the front, beneath the seat, reads LICINIAE L. F. POSTUMI, " Of Licinia, daughter of Lucius, wife of Postumus." Sterling Dow, who deciphered the inscription by means of squeezes, identified Licinia as a priestess, and pointed out that the priest of Dionysus in Athens had a similar throne (letter of June 15, 1954,

Museum archives) . There is considerable damage along the edges of the back and sides, obscuring some of the reliefs, and black areas around the seat and upper edge indicate the presence of fire at some point.

A quasi-divine Oriental figure with upraised arms forms the center of the relief on the back of the throne (Fig. 2). Both bearded and with breasts, it wears a long-sleeved, high-necked, Near Eastern garment, belted at the waist, and falling in a series of flaring pleats. The edges of the garment turn into elaborate acanthus scrolls, with leafy branches attached which turn up on both sides of the figure. A shell pattern emerges from the center of the hem. The figure is winged and holds an acanthus bud in either hand. The acanthus scrolls continue up the sides of the figure and end in a flame-like design, echoing the shape of the wings next to them. The sides were decorated with acanthus scroll-tailed, winged beasts, of which only the hindquarters remain (Fig. 3).

Three other thrones of the same form, dimensions and decorations as this have been discovered. One was found in the pronaos of the Parthenon in 1836 and is now in the Akropolis Museum, Athens ; one, evidently found near Rome, is in the Berlin Museum; and one is in the church of S. Gregorio Magno in Rome. The states of preservation of these thrones varies greatly. The Berlin and Rome examples are virtually complete, the winged figures having stylized, almost Assyrian-fashion beards, long hair held by a fillet, and polos crowns (Figs. 4 and 5).

Their large, staring eyes and prominent cheekbones enhance their Near Eastern quality. The lions' heads on the scroll-tailed animals indicate that they are griffins. A cast of the Akropolis throne made in the mid-nineteenth century shows it to be far more complete than it is today, with almost all of the back preserved. Now, the central 21

Figure 1. ROMAN IMPERIAL THRONE, marble, H . 25y,(", w. 26y,(", D . 25)/," (.64 x .665 x .65 m.), Inv. No. S5c4. Court, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Figure 2. Rear view of the Gardner throne.

22

Figure 3. Side view of the Gardner throne.

Figure 4 . THRONE, marble, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. Courtesy of Antiken abteilung, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Figure 6 . THRONE, marble, Akropolis Museum, Athens. (Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Athens)

Figure 5 . THRONE, marble, S. Gregorio Magno, Rome. (Archivio Fotograf. Gall. Mus. Vaticani)

Figure 7. Side view of Figure 6.

figure is broken off just below the shoulders and only one griffin retains its head (Figs. 6 and 7).

There is an inscription on the outer surface of the upper edge which at one time gave the name of an archon, or Athenian magistrate, but not enough is left to make a positive identification (Richter, " The M arble Throne on the Akropolis and its Replicas," in the American Journal of Archaeology, 58, 1954, pp . 271 ff., pis. 47-50).

The existence of four such nearly-identical thrones as these raises a number of problems.

What were they used for? If they were for a theatre, would one design be repeated four times?

Were they made at the same time? Was one the original and the other three copies? These questions have been considered b y numerous scholars, particularly the matter of chronology. The consensus has been that the Parthenon throne is an original Greek work of the fourth century B.C. and that the other three are Graeco-Roman copies of anywhere from 100 B.C. to the second or third centuries A.D. (Carl Bliimel, Katalog der Antiken Skulpturen im Berliner Museum, V, 1938, pp.

33-34 and Margarete Bieber, American Journal of Archaeology, 43, 1939, pp. 717-18). In the nineteen twenties A. H auser and H. M obius published their theory that the Gardner throne is a modem forgery rather than a Roman copy, but this position has received no support from other scholars. The choice of the throne now in the Akropolis Museum as the original was made for several reasons. In particular the decoration has impressed many observers as being of better quality, and less mechanical in execution, than the other three. The inscription on its upper edge is in letters of the style current in the fourth century, and the remaining letters can be reconstructed as the n ames of several archons of that period. Although its discovery in the Parthenon proves nothing about its date, since that building was in con stant use throughout the centuries, the

geographical proximity of the piece to the fi nest works of the High Classical period in Greece seem s to have had its effect.

In 1954 Gisela Richter (loc . cit.) re-examined the traditional viewpoint about the chronology of the four thrones. To her, the carving on all four seemed of the same quality, lacking the vitality and expressiveness typical of a Greek original.

Roman art lovers often commissioned copies -0f originals of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. which were faithful in detail but always d ry and mechanical in execution. Each of the motifs, the winged, semi-vegetable figure, the griffin s, and the acanthus and palmette foliage, is common in Roman copies, and the s tyle, wh ich is stiff and decorative, rather than realistic, is in keeping with a vogue for archaizing works wh ich occurred during both the Classical G reek and Roman periods. The shape of the thrones, with rounded backs and sides term in ating in animals, Richter considered to be H ellen istic in date, since there are no extant examples of this shape from earlier periods.

The inscription on the throne in the Parthenon presents numerous difficulties. Its fragmentary condition makes any definite recon struction impossible, and the letters wh ich are left can be interpreted as belonging to any one of several dates. The actual letters which were left in the mid-nineteenth century (in tran sliteration ) were ratoar 路 onto, which can be reconstructed fairly securely as [Epi . . . . . .) ra to ar [ch] onto [s), or, for so-and-s.o (a name con taining the letters rato), the archon . An archon was on e of the nine chief magistrates of Ath en s, of wh om the first was simply The Archon , b ut the word was also used during the Roman period as a synonym for praefectus, or governor, and, in itself, does not point to either an earlier or a later date for the throne. As mentioned ab ove, the form of the letters in the inscrip tion is tha t of the fourth

century B.C. Around 100 B.C., however, it became popular for Roman copyists to reproduce faithfully the epigraphical styles of earlier periods, making dating on路 the basis of letter formation extremely uncertain. Lastly, the letters rato are extremely common in Greek and GraecoRoman names and appropriate ones can be found from almost any period. Unfortunately, the inscription has been damaged even further during the last century, and only the letters ant remain.

Richter thus concluded that there was no firm evidence to indicate that the Parthenon throne is the original from which the other three are copied, and, indeed, that all four seem to be of a Graeco-Roman date. Yet the question remains as to why a Roman would want four identical thrones, and where the idea for the design would have come from. Richter hypothesized that one throne was commissioned for a special occasion such as one of Hadrian's visits to Athens. It would have been presented to the emperor, after a copy had been made to leave behind as a memorial, and brought back to Rome, where other commemorative copies would have been made.

Such copying of much admired works was very common at Rome, as the nobility would flatter the emperor by imitating his possession s. The four thrones would be therefore of roughly the same date, with either the Berlin, Rome, or Gardner examples as the first made, and the Athenian the second. Exact dates for the thrones cannot be determined, but there is one hint. The inscription on the front of the Gardner throne, LICINIAE L. F. POSTUMI, could refer to a member of the Licinius family which was well known during the first and second centuries A.D., and the form of the letters is in keeping with this date. Richter concluded that the four marble thrones are all replicas, of Roman date, of a lost Greek original of the early Hellenistic period.

This conclusion is consistent with the accepted

view that Roman art, and sculpture in particular, is made up almost entirely of copies of Greek art.

This view is based on a justifiable respect for the masterpieces of the Greek world, especially those of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and on literary and archaeological evidence for a widespread copying industry in late Republican and Imperial Rome. Our debt to the Roman copying industry is a great one, for without the coffee table and garden sculptures ordered by affluent middle-class Romans we would have very little visual record of the finest periods of Greek art.

Most sculptures of the High Classical era were of bronze, ivory, gold and other reusable precious materials and few survive. The pointing machine, which could reproduce the dimensions of a statue on a blank, has given us the essentials of these lost masterpieces, while the few remaining originals, such as the Elgin Marbles, give us the spirit. Like the engineering prowess which produced roads and aqueducts still in service two thousand years after their completion, this methodical and straightforward method of reproducing sculpture is typical of one side of the Roman character.

It is a mistake, however, to assume automatically that a work of art of the Roman period is an exact copy of a Greek original. The Romans were not only copyists, they were great practitioners of eclecticism, choosing the best from the many cultures with which they came into contact, and producing, in many cases, something entirely original. The Roman ability to assemble diverse elements into a coherent, pleasing, and artistic whole can be illustrated in many ways.

For instance, the third style of Pompeiian painting often unites elements of architecture, sculpture, and interior decoration, many of them Greek-inspired, into a fantasy world in which solid entablatures become delicate trellises and columns taper off into lamps. In other words,

25

familiar elements are seen from a different point of view.

Why, then, must there be a Greek original for the four marble thrones? Richter persuasively argued a Roman date for all but fell back on a lost Greek ancestor. Unless this ancestor is found, or a record of it is unearthed, it is simpler, and equally convincing, to assume that the thrones are not exact copies, but are made up of elements which have parallels in ancient sculpture, other than thrones. It is probable that one of the four is commemorative of a special occasion, and that the other three derive from it. The first may be seen as an example of Roman eclecticism, rather than a copy. The standard of workmanship is not in any one case up to the Greek, but this is often true, and it is the spirit, rather than the technical expertise, which makes such Roman sculptures interesting and valuable.

See, for example, the combination of decorative motifs in a marble candelabrum of the first or early second century A.D. in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Fig. 8) . The corners of the candelabrum are formed at the bottom by griffins with rams' horns, similar to those on Persian column capitals, between which are rosettes, and an elaborate design of acanthus leaves and volutes.

Above this, set into niches, are three nude male figures in high relief, each standing on a small plinth, as if in imitation of a statue. The first of these is the Doryphoros, the famous Spear Bearer of Polykleitos, reproduced from an over-life-size bronze of the mid-fifth century B.C., although the face and attributes have been broken away; the second is a Polykleitan Hermes, with cap and cloak ; the third is a heavily muscled athlete seen from the back, possibly a Herakles. The actual opening for the candle is formed by a tapering foliate design, resting on a cornice-like element, topped by a wide rim. Persian and Greek motifs, elements from both architecture and sculpture are 26

Figure 8. BA.SE OF A ROMAN CANDELABRUM, marble, I or II century A.D., Catherine Page Perkins Fund, 96.702. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Figure 9. ScuLPTURtD

APITAL from Salamis (Cyprus), m arble,

o. 1510.

ourt

y of th Tru t e of the British

Museum.

combined to make something n w. The workmanship may be Greek, but the mentality is Roman. use um The marble thron in the Gardner and its three counterparts would seem to be similar in origin. The shape is a common one, originating in the Hellenistic period and continuing through Roman times, and each featur of the sculptured decoration has parallels, either from the ear East, Greece, or Rome itself. There is a strong orientalizing tendency to most of the decoration. The winged figure on the back with its symmetrically arranged upraised a rms, acanthus scroll legs, and surrounding foliage was common in Greece during the fourth century B.C., and is paralleled almost exactly by a set of reliefs discovered by D . M . Robinson at Olynthus (Robinson, Olynthus, X, Baltimore, 1941, pp.

30-34). Thirteen fragments of these reliefs are preserved, the most complete of which shows a bearded and winged god, similarly costumed to the figure on the thrones, but with legs ending in the protomes of lion-headed griffins. Volutes and an eagle seated on a stone fill the space between the legs. A sculptured capital from Cy-

prus, nO\v in the British useum (Fig. Q), provides an qually lo e omparison to the figure on th thron s. The right and left sides are formed by the heads and for parts of winged bulls, P rsian in style, betw en 1 hi h is a figur , obviously female in this cas , wearing almost 1denti al, although more freely r ndered, drap ry Her legs nd in inward-turning volutes and her upraised arms rest on the bulls' 1 ings.

The individual elements of th figure are themselves traceable to ear Eastern sources. As early as the thirteenth century B. ., a Middle Elamite water deity has legs tapering off into a combination fish-tail and volute, which is continued into a symmetrical pattern around the figure. The symmetry itself is an oriental preference, 1 hile the figure with upraised arms surrounded by animals or mons ters (in the case of the thrones, the griffins on the edge of the arms) comes from representations of the hero Gilgamesh, or from the Pot11ia Theron (Mistress of the Animals) common in the Bronze Age Aegean world. There are s traight Roman analogies for the use of winged figures, foliate patterns and volutes in a symmetrical combination in something as un-

Figure 10. TORSO OF A ROMAN EMPEROR,

marble, late I century A.D., H. L. Pierce Fund, 99.346. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Figure 11. ROMAN DECORATIVE RELIEF,

late I century A.D., Francis Bartlett Donation, 03.747. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Greek as the torso of a Roman emperor in armor, probably the Emperor Domitian, in the Boston Museum (Fig. 10).

Floral ornament, and especially the use of acanthus leaves in architectural and other sculpture was very common during the Roman Empire. The Corinthian capital, never particularly popular in Greece, became standard. Entablatures were decorated with foliage where the Greeks would have put figure sculpture. The enclosure wall of the Ara Pacis is heavily decorated with such designs. Griffins were a standard element of Persian sculpture, both in capitals, as mentioned above, and on non-architectural sculpture, such as the Achaemenian Persian rhyton in the Teheran Museum. Roman examples of griffins with foliage are also easily found, such as the decorative relief from the Flavian period in the Boston Museum (Fig. 11), in which the griffin's tail turns into a large elaborate acanthus volute whose curves echo the shapes of the griffin's body and wings.

The fact that none of the elements on the four marble thrones are unique to them or to thrones in general does not prove that there was not an original throne, after which they were all copied. But, until there is definite proof that a work of Roman art derives from a Greek original, one should consider that it may be a Roman " original," a synthesis of elements from all over the cosmopolitan Mediterranean world, contemporary and earlier, re-applied to create a monument which is not copied from the Greek, nor inferior to the Greek, but different from the Greek. The marble throne in the Gardner Museum should be appreciated and evaluated not as a reproduction, but for what it is, a work of Roman art, an expression of a sophisticated and complicated society which had an artistic identity all its own.

Judith E. Hanhisalo

29

The Sacred 13eetle "I am the master of eternity ordering how I am fated like the Great Beetle" (Chapter XLII, " The Book of the Dead" )

For over four thousand years the mystical powers of the scarab have b een a source of fascination and attraction . One of the oldest religious symbols in Egypt, the scarab is an amulet, usually made of stone or faience, formed in the likeness of the Scarabaeus, a native blue-green beetle.

That this rather common insect was chosen to be immortalized in stone is partly explained by its strange reproductive habits. The beetle lays a single egg, covers it with excrement, and rolls it in the sand. As the egg hatches, the young beetle seems to emerge live from the sand. Seeing it appear without the apparent intervention of a female beetle, the Egyptians believed that the beetle had the power of self-creation and revivification. This led them to compare the beetle, as it rolled its egg, to Khepri, their god, who caused the sun to rise and roll across the sky. To them

both the egg and the sun contain creative powers, for as the egg hatches the beetle live from the sand, continuing the creative process of reproduction, so the sun rises from the darkness, creating a new day and continuing the life cycle. The scarab became the symbol of this god, analogous with the creative force behind the rising sun. This is often portrayed in mythological scenes by a large scarab rolling the globe of the sun before him. The hieroglyph of the scarab ~ is derived from this image, and is translated as kheper, " to create or become."

The reputation of the beetle was further enhanced during the seasonal flooding of the Nile.

When all life on the banks was washed away, and the Nile receded leaving lifeless marshes behind, the beetles, seeming to rise from the dead, were as plentiful as ever.

The scarab's remarkable powers were essen-

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Figures 1 and 2. Ink ske tch es of Egyptian deities and a lesson on writing hieroglyphics from pages in Mrs. Gardner's Egyptian Diary, 1874-75. (Mu seum archives)

tial to Egyptian religious beliefs. The heart scarab, con sidered the most important amulet in the funeral ceremony, was usually a green stone scarab which was placed over the heart of the deceased . With proper words of power from the " Book of the Dead" either engraved on the scarab or recited over it by a man who "is ceremonially clean and pure" the scarab possessed the ability to summon the spiritual life of the dead . . . . and behold, thou shalt make a scarab of green stone, with a rim of gold, and this shall be placed in the heart of a man, and it shall perform for him the 'Opening of the mouth.'

(Chapter XXX B, " The Book of the Dead") The deceased was then reborn into the land of O siris, where he would live eternally.

Many of the scarabs found on mummies, other than heart scarabs, show signs of great wear, proof that the scarabs were used habitually in daily life. They were usually pierced longitudinally and strung on thread or wire and worn on the n eck or arms, or set in bands as rings or seals.

Perhaps in the same way religious medals are worn today, the scarab protected the owner from harm or any evil, as in this common inscription: " Re is behind thee, there is no fear." Others were worn to procure blessings : " Mayst thy n ame be establish ed, mayst thou have a son."

Many carried good wishes: "A good day," " A mother is a truly good thing," " Golden life"; or mottoes of the day : " Memphis is mighty forever." Names of the deities, personal names, and ornamental designs were also quite common.

H owever, the name of the reigning king, described as " The Good God" and "Th e Son of the Sun God giving life," was the most powerful protection against evil.

31

Like oth er forms of Egyptian sculpture, scarabs reflect different periods of Egyptian history and culture. The scarabs of the Middle Kingdom (2133-1633 B.C.) are as finely detailed and naturalistic as the sculpture and jewelry of that time.

Likewise, the H yk sos reign (1730-1580 B.C.), a period of alien occupation and great cultural uph eaval, produced many scarab s of poor quality.

Some were made of cast faience, resulting in crude representation s. The decorative n ature of the scarabs of the XVIII Dynasty (1580-1340 B.C.) also parallels the ornate details of the statuary of that prosperous era.

The variety of anatomical detail is endless: the head may be round, rectangular, or merging with the body; the legs smooth, feathered or nonexistent; and the elytra, or wing cases on the back, may have single or double vertical and girdle lines, as well as a variety of decorative m arkings. Specific combinations of these and other anatomical distinctions are ch aracteristic of specific periods, and therefore aid in dating scarabs. Duplicates are almost never found.

Egypt captivated Mrs. Gardner. During h er eight-month stay in Egypt, from September 1874 to April 1875, sh e filled her travel journal with sensitive observations of the people, customs and sights of Egypt. She also included her own watercolors of the landscape, ink sketches of the deities (Fig. 1), decorative motifs (<1s seen on these pages) and even a lesson on hieroglyphics (Fig. 2). Evidently at this time she acquired the scarabs in this collection, eleven in all. Four of these scarabs which vary in dating, anatomical detail and style of inscription are discussed here.

The most important scarab is displayed in the Little Salon in the cabinet along the east wall (Fig . 3). This black steatite scarab bears the cartouch e of Thuthmosis III, the most famous conqueror in An cient Egypt. During his reign from 1504-1450 B.C., his military exploits, combined with his popularity with the priests (he referred to himself as " D efender of the Faith"), elevated him to the position of demi-god, causing his name to be issued on scarabs for hundreds of years after his dea th. Only Ramses II had more scarab s issued which bear his name.

Figs. 3 and 4

This scarab is finely carved, as seen in the detail and precision in the anatomy as well as in the inscription (Fig. 4). The delicately incised h ieroglyph s read : neter nefer, " The Good God," Menkh eperre, Thuthmosis III's prenomen, or principal n ame, which is translated as " the form of Re endures." The s tyle of the anatomy, one vertical and one girdle line, and " v" notches on the elytra, is typical of the XVIII Dynasty, an indication tha t this scarab was issued during the lifetime of Thuthmosis III, and not commemoratively.

The museum's other scarabs are located in the Macknight Room. The green scarab shown in Figure 5 m ay have been cast from a mold, a method which began in the Hyksos reign and went out of fashion in the XX Dynasty (12001085 B.C.). Contrasted to the more naturalistically arched back of the preceding scarab, this one is quite flat. This quality, and the fact that the legs are not expressed are also indicative of the Hyksos style. However, both the "v"

notches and the diagonal lines bordering the elytra are not seen before the XVIII Dynasty. This scarab was most likely made at the beginning of the XVIII Dynasty when remnants of the Hyksos style lingered on.

Figs . 5 and 6

The inscription (Fig. 6) seems unusually deep and smooth for an incising process, and, like the scarab itself, it may be molded. However, the smoothness may be a result of the thick glazes which are applied after the inscription is completed. It consists of a standing lion in the action of trampling a captive enemy. This scene, usually symbolizing the strength of a king, was issued on scarabs of Thuthmosis III, Amenhotep I, and several others. Above the lion's back is the neb basket, a sign meaning " lord" or "all," and to the left of the lion is a modified uraeus, the serpent which is usually seen rearing on the crown of the king. Despite the regal implications in the inscription, without a name 路or prenomen this scarab probably does not represent a particular king.

The green steatite scarab ring (Fig. 7) is typical of the late Middle Kingdom to early New Kingdom style (ca. 2000-1340 B.C.) . Part of its gold band is still intact, and fits through the scarab so snugly that it appears to have been intended

Figs. 7 and 8

as a ring. Indeed, scarabs were worn more as rings than any other form during this period. The anatomy of the elytra, one girdle and two vertical lines, and the narrow head combined with a smooth clypeus (anterior portion of the head) are details consistent with this period.

The hieroglyphs (Fig. 8) are symmetrically arranged to conform to the surface of the scarab , and their ornamentation reveals a concern for aesthetic design. The neb signs, facing each other on either end of the inscription, are used to balance the composition, and the parallel lines which run through three of the hieroglyphs are purely decorative. Because of the ornamental modification, the sign or:= , is puzzling; in parallel inscriptions on scarabs, it is read as c::;<1 wdn, "an offering." An interpretation of the inscription as a whole is nearly impossible, and one must keep in mind that because of decorative variations such as these, many inscriptions may never be translated.

Figs. 9 and 10

The blue steatite scarab (Fig. 9) is finely detailed and in excellent condition, probably the result of a carefully applied protective glaze. The smaller than usual size, and the fact that the legs are deeply incised and feathered front and back are characteristics which Petrie (Scarabs and Cylinders with Names, London, School of Archaeology in Egypt, 1917, p . 5) dates from the X to the XIII Dynasty (2150-ca. 1 700 B.C.). However, this type of inscription, vertical hieroglyphs lined across the horizontal plane of the scarab's base, is not seen until the XIX Dynasty (1340-1200 B.C.) . The anatomy of the elytra, one girdle and

33

O ne of m a ny decora tive devices bordering pages in M rs. Gard ner's Egyptian Diary.

two vertical lines, is seen from the XII to the XIX D ynasty, and therefore leads to an approximate dating of the XIX D ynasty.

The incised hieroglyphs which read from right to left, R', nfr, m3't, i' rt, nb, do not translate into a coherent phrase (Fig. 10) . The Egyptologist Etienne Drioton, however, developed a theory that many inscriptions were in fact cryptograms.

Using his method Professor Alan Schulman has translated the hieroglyphs as lm n R' nb.i, Amon Re is my Lord.

Today the scarab is still valuable as a rich source of historic information, and as a reflection of the artistic development of Ancient Egypt. Moreover, it continues to be worn because the scarab's mythology still lingers in the back of the twentieth century con sciousness, retaining the illusion of everlasting life.

Joyce L. Haynes

34

The Chapel in 1918, west wall, with Tintoretto's The Wedding Feast at Cana, an Italian XVII century prie-dieu, and a partial view of the bookcase containing letters and photographs of French authors and figures from the stage and rare editions of French history and literature.

35

JI ~ine and Private Press: The Xelmscott 9 eneration

The late nineteenth century saw renewed interest in printing as an art in its own right. English printing in the Victorian age had included both inspired presswork and the worst of design and quality. The great figures of Victorian printing, William Pickering and the Chiswick Press, had proven once again that printing was a craft which really only succeeded when touched by the h and of the master. Then, with the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the quality of design in everything came under intense scrutiny and a school of mas ter printers grew, many of them operating their own private presses as a way of publishing their works and those of their contemporaries, in the process illustrating that printing itself was a practical matter capable of stunning artistry. Care and devotion went into the selection of texts, the editing, the choice of a type face suitable to the text, the design of new type faces, the beauty and sturdiness of the paper.

The period from the 1890's through the 1920's was the great age of the private press and the limited edition. Mrs. Gardner's library has four very fine examples. Three of them, two English and one American, are from 1894. The last is from 1909 and is a successor to the early works.

The Kelmscott Press was instrumental in the revival of printing and the founding of likeminded presses. William Morris, who had devoted much of his life to design in other m~dia, became interested in printing in 1888 when asked his preference in type face for his epic, A Tale

of the House of the Wolfings, issued in 1889 from the Chiswick Press . Some th ough t on the matter and a search of the offices produced an "old face" some fifty years old, one modelled on an ancient Basie face. Morris then used this "Basie Roman" for his tale, Th e Roots of the Mountains, printed in 1890 again by the Chiswick Press, and began a serious study of early prin ted books for their type design. He considered Jen son 's type in Pliny the Eider's Historia naturalis (Venice, 1476) the ideal, and modelled his own design for the Kelmscott Press on it, naming his face the Golden after The Golden Legend, the fi rst b ook planned for issuance from the press. (As it h appened, the first Kelmscott Press book was actually Morris' work, The Story of the Glittering Plain, p rinted in 1891.)

Morris was a perfectionist in the ma tter of his press, overseeing every detail and operation. He found unacceptable ever y paper commercially available and contracted with Messrs.

Batchelor and Son of Little Ch art, Kent, for handmade paper done after an Italian fifteenth century model. The paper bore three watermarks : a primrose, an apple, and a perch with a spray in its mouth.

THE POEMS OF JOH N KEATS The book is in excellent condition. The opening of the text has th e quintessen tial Morris border and bloomer, or large, floriated initial (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Title page and first page of text of the Kelmscott The Poems of John Keats showing Morris' border and bloomer, i.e. the large A pierced with grape clusters, sYs" x 11".

37

Figure 2. Device used by William Morris in the smaller Kelmscott Press books, with colophon,

2 3/ 16" x 3 Y,".

The paper bears the primrose watermark. The work is bound in vellum, bears the printer's mark used in the smaller Kelmscott books (Fig. 2).

Overseen after the text of forego_ing editions by F. S. Ellis, and printed by me William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Upper Mall, Hammer, smith, in the County of Middlesex, and finished on the ;rth day of March, i894.

Sold by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press.

Collation : 8vo : w 8 b-z 8 2A-2B 8 X8 [Colophon on XlR) i-vi 1 2-385.

In 1898 when Sydney Cockerell, secretary to the Press and Morris in his last years, compiled the bibliography of the Kelmscott Press, he described the Poems as the most sought after of the small Kelmscott books. Of the edition 300 were printed on paper at 30 shillings each, 7 on vellum at 9 guineas each.

THE SPHINX BY OSCAR WILDE J WITH DECORATIONS BY CHARLES RICKETTS [ LONDON MDCCCXCIV ELKIN MATHEWS AND JOHN LANE. AT THE SIGN OF THE BODLEY HEAD. J

Collation: 8vo, unsigned, four gatherings: 6 leaves (first used as paste down endpaper) 8, 8, and 4 (with last leaf of last gathering used as paste down endpaper).

38

The edition, dedicated to Marcel Schwab, was limited to 200 copies and printed at the Ballantyne Press.

Ricketts had designed books for Messrs. Osgood and Macllvaine in the early 1890's before forming, with Arthur Shannon, the Vale Press so that they could control the design of the books in every detail from format to illustration, leaving only the presswork, which they entrusted to the Ballantyne Press.

Of Th e Sphinx Ricketts wrote in his A Defence of the Revival of Printing (Vale Press, 1899): " Before I designed my type [he created his own founts for the Vale books] I built, decorated, and bound 'The Sphinx,' a poem by Mr. Oscar Wilde, not strictly a Vale book, since it is without wood-cuts [The Sphinx has red line drawings, the Vale books have woodcuts]; it was published shortly after the Hero and Leander." (The Hero and Leander referred to is one of the great products of the Ricketts-Shannon collaboration.)

Ricketts used capitals for the short text, printed the leader initials in green, the illustrations in red line. The vellum boards are decorated with gilt line drawings (Fig. 3). It is a striking, unsettling poem, with illustrations of a piece and mind with the text (Fig. 4). Th"e poem, the tale of the sphinx' visit to Wilde's room, is afflicted with a youthfully morbid vision : Wilde asks the sphinx of her lovers in the early age of the world, sounding at the age of twenty already jaded and worldweary while the sphinx becomes in the course of the poem Wilde's own too-precious inclinations.

Ricketts, like Morris and Cobden-Sanderson, was an apologist for the art of printing and like them published his own statement on the art, A Defence of the Revival of Printing (Hacon & Ricketts, 1899). With Lucien Pissarro, the artist and founder of the Eragny Press, he did the text for De la typographie et de l'harmonie de la page imprimee. William Morris et son influence sur les arts et metiers (London, Hacon & Ricketts, 1898).

+

0

Figure 3. Ricketts' gilt-decorated vellum binding of The Sphinx by O scar Wilde, 8~" x 13Ys".

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Figure 4. Title page and first page of text of The Sphinx, BY," x 13)/,".

39

Figure s. First sonnet of Rossetti' s The House of Life, showing the border and bloomer, Sy.(" x 6Ys".

I

LOVE ENTHRONED

D

~~Rp~!~,::~~in路 heart finds fair: Truth, with awed lips; and Hope, with eyes upcast; And Fame, whose loud wings fan the a shen Past T o signal.fi.rcs,Obliv-

ion's Aight to scare; And Youth, with still some single golden hair Unto his s houlder clinging, since the last Embrace wherein two sweet arms held him fast ;

And L ife, still w reathing flowers for D eath to wear.

Love's throne was not with these; but far above AH passionate wind of welcome and farewell H e sat in breathless bowers they dream n ot of; Though Truth foreknow Love's heart, and H ope foretell, And Fame be for Love's sake desirable, And Youth be dear, and Life be sweet to Love.

THE HOUSE OF LIFE BY DANTE I GABRIEL ROSSETTI BEING NOW I FOR THE FIRST TIME GIVEN IN I ITS FULL TEXT I [publisher's device of lily among thorns] MDCCCXCIVI Published by Copeland and Day in Cornhill, Boston.

Collation : 8vo, unsigned, 1 gathering of 4 leaves, 7 gatherings of 8 leaves, 1 gathering of 6 leaves, i-viii - 119 120-122 (Part II half-title not included in pagination) The book is paper bound with paper wrapper.

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue designed the borders and bloomers (Fig. 5) . Of the edition 500 were on French handmade paper, SO with rubricated initials on Michallet paper.

John Wilson and Son of Cambridge printed the text from July to December 1893. The book's design shows the influence of the typographic revival in its ornate border and initials, and its type face, with its heavily inked roundness, is reminiscent of the Golden type of Morris.

The House of Life had a complex publishing history. The sonnets were based almost entirely on Rossetti's love for Janey Morris, the wife of William Morris, although the poems were long supposed to be prompted by Rossetti's grief over

40

e.I~~~

his own wife's death. The first published edition came out in 1870 but was incomplete, the cycle not being printE::d in its entirety until Ballads and Sonnets appeared in 1881. Rossetti was unwilling to have the inspiration of the cycle known, and made several misleading statements about the dates of the poems, inferring that they were written in the early 1860's after his wife's death.

William Rossetti, Dante Gabriel's brother, confused the matter by making contradictory statements in various posthumous editions of his brother's verse. According to Oswald Doughty's biography of Rossetti, the dating of the 1911 edition is "substantially correct."

DOVES PRESS : SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS I TERCENTENARY I EDITION I MDCIX I MDCCCCIX I Lines 2, 3, and 5 in red. From the colophon: PRINTED BY T. J. COBDEN-SANDERSON I at The Doves Press, 15 Upper Mall Hammersmith, I from the first edition, " imprinted at London by G. Eld for T . T. 1609," ...

PUBLISHED AND SOLD AT I THE DOVES PRESS No. 15 UPPER MALL I HAMMERSMITH. Collation : 8vo, a"b-f8 1-5 6-86 87-88. The book is bound in vellum.

ROM FAIREST CREATYRES WE DESIRE INCREASE, THAT THEREBY BEAVTIES ROSE MIGHT NEVER DIE. BVT AS THE RIPERSH OVLD BYTIME DECEASE. HIS TENDER H EIRE MIGHT BEARE HIS ,.......- - - -... MEMORY: BVT THOV CONTRACT ED TO THINE OWNE BRIGHT EYES. FEED'ST THY LIGHTS FLAME WITH SELFE SVBSTANTIALL FEWELL. MAKING A FAMINE WHERE ABOVNDANCE LIES, THY SELFE THY FOE. TO THY SWEET SELFE TOOCRVELL: THOVTHAT ART NOW THE WORLDS FRESH ORNAMENT. AND ONLY HERAVLDTOTHEGAVDY SPRING. WITHIN TH INE OWNE BVD BVRIESTTHY CONTENT. AND TENDER CHOR LE MAKST WAST IN NIGGARDING: PITTY THE WORLD. OR ELSE TH IS GLVTTONBE. TO EATETHE WORLDS DVE. BY THE GRAVE AND THEE.

N rhc ould .1ge blackc: wis not counted faire, Or Lf IC we.a.re It bore not beaunes name: But now lS blackc beaunes successtue hctrc, And Bcaune sbnderd w1ch a basu.rd shame.

For smcc each hand hath put on N.1tures power,

Famng chc foulc w1ch Arts faulsc borrow'd face.

Sweet bcaury hath no name, no holy boure,

But ts proph.m'd. Lf nor hues m disgrace.

Therefore my Mistrcssc eyes are Rauen blacke, H er eyes so sured, and they mourners scemc.

Ac sud1 who nor borne faire no beaucy lack, Slandnng Creanon with a false estccme,

Yee so clwy mournc becommmgof their woe, That eucry coungsa1cs bcaucy should looke so.

H OW ofc when chou my musikc musike pLlysr, Vpcn chac blessed wood whose moc1on sounds W irh rhy swcec fmgers, when thou gcndy swaysc The wiry concord char mine earc confounds, Do I enu1e chose hckes char nimble leape.

To ktsse the render inward of thy hand, WIHlst my poore lips which should that harucsr reape.

At the woods bouldnes by thee blushing srand.

T o be so nk.led they would change their state, And s1ruat1on w1rh chose danang chips.

Ore whome thy fingers walkc w1ch gentle gate, Malung dead wood more blcsr then liumg ~ps.

Smee sausu: lackcs so happy :lre Ln chis, Giue them thy fmgers, me thy ~ps to lusse.

'JO

Figure 6. First page of text of the Doves Press Shake-speares Sonnets, 9y,(" x 671,".

The Doves Press was the direct descendant of the Kelmscott Press. After Morris' death in 1896, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, renowned binder and head of the Doves Bindery (where Kelmscott Books had been bound) , contemplated the future of the book and good printing, wondered who would continue Morris' work, and felt himself chosen. He approached Emery Walker, friend and constant advisor to the Kelmscott Press during Morris' lifetime, and the two formed the Doves Press. Walker, a brilliant typographer and accomplished printer, designed the one face u sed at the press, basing his design, as had Morris, on the 1476 Historia naturalis of Pliny the Elder printed by Nicolaus Jenson. (Jenson's was a noble type but generally suffered from b ad presswork. Thus an amateur like Morris saw an impressive but over-inked or badly-inked page while Walker saw the design beneath the heaviness.)

The Doves Press continued until 1917. The

Figure 7. Sonnets 127 and 128 of the Doves Press Shake-sp eares Sonnets, 9y,(" x 6ยงi".

books' pages were lean and uncluttered to the point of severity: Cobden-Sanderson and Walker both believing that in succeeding Morris any ornamentation would be derivative and superfluous. When need of decoration was felt, Cobden-Sanderson would occasionally do a leader initial, although in this edition the initials were designed by Edward Johnston, the great calligrapher, and engraved b y Noel Rooke and A . E. R. Gill (Figs. 6 and 7).

In Cobden-Sanderson's words, the Doves Press had been founded " to attack the problems of pure Typography as presented by ordinary books ... great thoughts deserve & demand a great setting, the great works of literature h ave again and again to be set forth in form suitable to their magnitude." (Catalogue Raisonne of Books Printed & Published at the Doves Press, p. 2.)

Maureen Cunningham

Report of the President

There is really nothin g of especial interest to emphasize that is not admirably covered in the director's report.

1973 was on the whole a good year though the attendance was slightly lower than last year.

The unfairness and unreasonableness of our being taxed on our income continues to mystify us and may soon threaten our program for the public.

Again we are grateful to our director and his excellent staff in all departments in enabling us to have a good year.

G. Peabody Gardner

43

Reporf

f fh e Dir

cf r

Boston's Bic ntennial elebration in â&#x20AC;˘975 coincides with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the museum's in orporation. For th years of th founder's d1r torship, 1900-1q24, th !if f th museum is known only through 1 tters, lippmgs and biographies. Since 1925 ther has b en a published annual report with details of th work of the staff and the activity m th butldmg d scribed by the director. These reports atalogu the innovations and e periments carried out in what is a tightly ir urns ribed institution, a museum that has changed without hangmg for as long as anyone an remember. Ther is in fact a gradual transition in effect, in the attendance, in the flowers, in the music and in th building. So sub tle are these changes, with few accents to mark their arrival, that the n w blends with the old to maintai n an atmospher at all times familiar.

A grant from the M assachus tts oun ii on the Arts and Humanities has helped with e p riments in lighting, in graphics and in the design of signs directing visi tors through the galleries.

The smallest, the Yellow Room, was sele ted for new lighting in the hope of finding suitable fixtures for use elsewhere. Under consideration are signs to identify the galleries and services, and stanchions to restrict movemen t where necessary.

Besides the Guide there has been added a Brief Tour in printed form to simplify choices for bewildered visitors.

The public entrance has always been less imposing than the main entrance which opens directly on to the Court. The opportunity to use the latter as an exit brought about the addition of glass doors and renovations which have enhanced the Renaissance marble frame on the outside and the French medieval doors within.

Electric counters report the number of visitors in the building providing a check on the size of the crowd which may overwhelm the museum if

th Bic nt nnial predictions ome true. Although gall ry spa e annot be enlarg d, th outside gard ns ar available to visitors m warm weather.

Last summ r light refreshm nt was offered in the onks' ard n and was well received.

The ourt again was th scene of a concert by the Harvard-Rad liff ollegium Musi um under the dire tion of John dams . The space is so mtngumg to musi ians and d lightful to audinces seat d in the windows that an opera is planned for this spring.

Musi ians from all over the world ontinu d to highlight the s nes of some 130 on erts given m the mus urn's Tap stry Room during 1973¡ String quart t from Mosco1 and Berlin, violinists from France and Hungary, pianists from Austria and Italy, a chamber ensemble from Cze hoslovakia as well as many fin young Ameri an artists performed. The museum provides one of the best opportunities for young performers and 1t 1s partt ularly pleasing to find that eight debut programs were presented last year.

The three catalogues of the ollection already in progress moved closer to publication. Sir Philip Hendy ontinued work on the manuscript of the catalogue of paintings during his visit to the museum in June. The text has been set in type and publication (delayed by the paper shortage) is expected in the fall of 1974. The museum received a grant from the ational Endowment for the Arts to assist in the publication of a small catalogue of the Oriental and Islamic objects in the collection, the manuscript of which was sent to the printer at the end of the year.

Publication of the sculpture catalogue is expected in 1975, postponed a year to allow for work on the above.

Work on the archives and with the collection of rare books and fine bindings continued with the intention of p ublishing a new catalogue and 45

the possibility of a special exhibition within the building of some of the choicer items. Much of this collection is unknown and impossible to fully appreciate in the present cases.

Concurrently the laboratory devoted a good part of the year to deacidifying papers in the archives and mending the books. Carolyn Horton came again as a consultant in paper, reimbursed under a grant from the attonal Endowment for the Arts. The conservator revamished and made minor repair to paintings by Anthonis Mor,

Lippo Memmi, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Both the Zorn and Sargent portraits of Mrs. ardner received attention; the latter was completely revamished. Work on leather, ceramic, silver and stone objects continues year after year, and th textile workroom was equally busy with lace, tapestry and needlepoint, some of which have survived for three centuries. The skill of the staff in dealing with fragile objects 1s often not immediately apparent, but the rejuvenation of delicate fabrics that takes place in the textile work-

room is a tribute to patience and understanding.

In addition to the previously mentioned grants, the museum received another from the Smithsonian Institution, under the provisions of the National Museum Act to support xperiments on the preservation of stone sculpture which 1s e posed to the elements.

The Fenway Group held monthly meetings in the Tapestry Room, where the problems and plans of institutions in the Fenway area were discussed. T he Group has sponsored a study of the use of the adjacent parkland with an aim toward its improvement prior to the Bi entennial.

In cooperation with the Department of Musi Education of the Boston School ommittee, 138 students in music classes in thirteen city high schools attended a special performance presented by the Quadrivium Consort, under the dire tion of Marlen e Mon tgomery.

The director continued as Chairman of the Boston Chapter of Save Venice, Inc. In O ctober he was elected as a district delegate to the Fenway Project A rea Committee (FenPAC), which advises the Boston Redevelopment Authority on matters related to the Fenway. He also served as Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Association of Art Museum Directors, and testified on behalf of the Hillstead Museum at the trial in Hartford, Connecticut brought by the residuary heirs. He lectured on the museum at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Wellesley College and the University of N orth Carolina.

On 11 June twenty-three curators from museums throughout the world, traveling under the auspices of the State Department and the American Association of M useums, were entertained by the Trustees at dinner in the D utch Room.

Special Visits held for more than 100 persons were: 6 May Consulate General of Israel

20 May cw England onservatory of Musi 23 May ellesl y olleg , Alumnae Society 7 ctober English peaking n1on 10 Octob r Th Ele troch mica! Soci ty J 8 0 tob r Th Inter-American Press Asso

200 100 300 500 300

The new greenhou es, after more than a year of operati n, continu to b succ ssful. Improvements were mad in thre pla s: a hedge was add d along the Evansway, the driveway was replaced and w1d n d, and a stand-by electri al generator was purcha ed.

The work of the gardeners was re ognized by the following awards Massachusetts Horti ultural S c1ety Gold Medal and First Pnze for a group of azaleas.

(Spnng Flower ShOI ) Massa husetts Horti ultural So iety First Prize for a group of cinerarias. {Spnng Flower Show) Massachusetts Department of griculture Blue Ribbon for best culture of a group of azaleas.

(Spring Flower Show) Annual amelia Show. First and Second Prizes.

From the greenhouses of Mrs. Sherman Miles the museum received the gift of a bay tree, a lemon tree and a tangerine tree, given in memory of Harold Coolidge, president of the museum's board of Trustees after Mrs. Gardner's death.

The bay tree, over fifty years old, survived the move and may be seen growing in the Court.

The attendance remained high, although on weekdays less than in 1972: Weekdays Sundays Special Visits during closed hours Total

1973

1972

115,896 70,088

128-428

1,484

3'405

187-468

196,273

64-440

47

Return at the Sales Desk was: Books Guides and Information Folders Cards Color Transparencies Miscellaneous Total

1973

1972

$ 4,137.44

$ 3,159.50

4,468.11 5,668.62 1,356 .25 3,786.58

4,182.75 5,498.50 2 ,114.00 2,027.70

$19,417.00

$16,982.45

At the service in memory of Isabella Stewart Gardner on Saturday, 14 April the celebrant was the Reverend Father Paul Wessinger, S.S.J.E. Patrick Thomas Niland, security 路foreman, retired at year's end after forty-three years of service. H e was succeeded by Patrick N aughton, his assistant. Tom Niland has shown unusual tact and dedication in overseeing the security of the collection and has b een the trusted companion of the museum's first three directors. He will be missed by all of us who had the good fortune to. work with him.

Three of the staff have retired: Thomas Little, maintenance technician, 21 December; Joseph Miniutti, nightwatchman, 1 October; Patrick T .

Niland, security foreman, 31 December.

Eight have resigned : Elizabeth B. Cobb, conservation technician, 15 June; Harold H. Holm, guard, 1 June ; Patrick J. Kearney, guard, 1 August; Patrick McDonough, guard, 6 May; John F. McElhinney, guard, 22 February; William

Metten, sales clerk, 29 March; Steffen Pierce, nightwatchman, 10 September; Lana B. Shettles, conservation technician, 14 December.

Sixteen have been engaged for regular duties : Elizabeth Bing, maintenance technician, 5 November; John J. Coffey, guard, 8 June; Exibee Coleman, maintenance technician, 5 February; Frederick C. Doyle, guard, 11 December; Stephen F. Duffe, nightwatchman, 20 March; Melanie Gifford, conservation technician, 17 September; Neil E. Jamieson, guard, 9 November; Michael A. Kennedy, maintenance technician, 19 December; Erving L. Kinney, guard, 2 January; Daniel O ' Connell, guard, 11 May; George P. Peck, maintenance technician, 5 November; John J. Pelechowicz, daywatchman, 21 February; Susan M. Sinclair, sales clerk, 20 April; Thomas J. Sisco, nightwatchman, 10 September; Susan E. Weiss, conservation technician, 17 September; Lawrence R. Williams, conservation technician, 17 December.

On restricted schedules were: Fred Creager and Stephen Rogers.

The assistance of Andy Carpenter and Wendy Kozol, volunteers, was of great help to the staff.

It is a great pleasure to compliment the museum's staff for a multitude of improvements, some of which have been listed here. Their contribution is invaluable and much appreciated.

Rollin van N. Hadley

Note on the Organization of the Museum

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Incorporated (Museum Corporation), a Massachusetts charitable corporation, is the sole trustee under the will of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Upon h er death in 1924, Mrs. Gardner left to seven individual trustees the property which now constitutes the Museum - Fenway Court and the works of art she had collected there, some of which were owned by her directly and some by a corporation of which she owned all the capital stock, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the Fenway, Incorporated (Fenway Corporation) .

She also gave her trustees an endowment fund for the sup port of the Museum.

In 1936 the individual trustees under Mrs. Gardner's will organized the Museum Corporation and resigned as trustees under the will. The Museum Corporation was appointed by the Probate Court to be successor trustee in their stead and now holds all the trust property, consisting of the real estate, the collection (owned either directly or through Fen way Corporation), and the endowment.

Under the By- laws of the Museum Corporation it is managed by a board of seven trustees who have the power to fill vacancies in their own number. The officers, elected annually by the trustees, are a President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. A Finance Committee of at least two members appointed by the trustees is responsible for the Museum's investments.

Under the terms of Mrs . Gardner's will full authority over the Museum, the collection, and the staff is vested in the Director, who is appointed and subject to removal by her trustees (now the Museum Corporation).

Part of the group that turned out to honor Patrick Thomas Niland at the time of his retirement. Niland holds a silver bowl presented on behalf of the staff and Trustees. In the center of the front row are left to right: J. L. Gardner, J. Giwosky, P. T . Niland, L. Hewitt and R. Hadley.

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Publications

EUROPEAN AN D AMERI CAN PAINTINGS IN THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM, by Philip Hendy 1974 A descriptive catalogue, with biographies of the artists and reproductions of all the paintings; 282 black and white illustrations, 38 color plates. $30.00 Cloth bound Pos tage and $ 2.00 (domestic) packing $ 2.25 (foreign) DRAWINGS/ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM, edited by Rollin van N. Hadley A small group of notable drawings ranging in date from the late fifteenth to the early twentieth century; 38 illustrations, frontispiece in color.

Paper bound $ 2.50 Postage and $ .40 (domestic) packing $ .45 (foreign) ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER AND FENWA Y COURT, by Morris Carter A biography of Isabella Stewart Gardner and a h istory of the formation of her collection by the first director of the museum ; foreword by G. Peabody Gardner, President, Board of Trustees; illustrated ; third edition.

Cloth bound $ 6.oo Postage and $ .50 (domestic) packing $ .60 (foreign) MUSEUM GUIDE For the use of visi tors; illustrated; 98 pp.

Paper bound $ .95 Postage and $ -40 (domestic) packing $ .45 (foreign)

GENERAL CATALOGUE, by Gilbert W. Longstreet

An itinerary ca talogue of the collection with brief descriptions of all the objects; 14 illustrations; 301 pp.

Paper bound $ 2.95 Postage and $ .40 (domestic) packing $ -45 (foreign) TITIAN'S RAPE OF EUR OP A, by Arthur Pop e A study of the composition and the mode of representation of this and related paintings; 26 illustrations; 62 pp .

Paper bound $ 1.95 $ .40 (domestic) Postage and packing $ -45 (foreign) Cloth bound $ 2.95 Postage and $ .5 0 (domestic) $ .55 (foreign) packing TREASURES FROM THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM, by George L. Stout (Crown Publishers, New York) A history of the museum and its collection by the second director; 130 illustrations, 5 color plates; 218 pp.

Cloth bound $ 7.50 Postage and $ .55 (domestic) packing $ .75 (foreign) A CHECKLIST OF THE CORRESPONDENCE OF ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER AT THE GARDNER MUSEUM A list of persons who wro te to Isabella Stewart Gardner, with a guide to locations of letters in the museum; 12 pp.

Paper bound $ 1.00 Postage and $ .15 (domestic) $ .25 (foreign) packing

ORIENTAL AND ISLAMIC ART IN THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM b y Yasuko Horioka, M arylin Rhie an d W alter B. Denny 1974 A fully illustrated catalogue; this small collection includes sculpture, paintings, ceramics, lacquer ware, miniatures and carvings .

Paper bound $ 3.50 Postage and $ .50 (domes tic) packing $ .60 (foreign) FENWAY COURT Annual Reports for 1970 and 1972 are available .

Reports of the president and director, illustrations and articles on the collection.

Paper bound $ 2.00 Postage and $ .30 (domestic) $ .35 (foreign) packing FENWAY COURT 1966-1970 A small illustrated journal, each issue on one subject. A list of 22 subjects will be sent on request. 30 cents per issue.

(Library discount offered only on set of 22 issues.)

Mail orders will be shipped by 4th class, book rate (domestic) or surface rates (foreign) . Please make check or money order payable to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum .

Libraries and other educational institutions are offered a 40% discount.

A list of slides and color reproductions is available on request.

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Trustees

Staff*

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Incorporated, Sole Trustee under the will of Isabella Stewart Gardner

Director Emeritus George L. Stout

President G. Peabody Gardner Vice-President and Secretary Malcolm D. Perkins Treasurer John Lowell Gardner Elliot Forbes Mason Hammond Francis W . Hatch, Jr. James Lawrence, Jr.

ADMIN ISTRATION

Director Rollin van N. Hadley Assistant to the Director Linda V. Hewitt Curatorial Assistant Frances L. Preston Administrative Assistant Joyce L. Haynes Research Associate Maureen I. Cunningham Publi ca tions Editor Paula M. Kozol Photographer Joseph B. Pratt Directo r of Music Johanna Giwosky Do ce nts Judith E. Hanhisalo Clara S. Monroe Nicholas A. Tranquillo Sale s Clerks Loren L. Benson Susa n M . Sinclair COLLECTION

Chief Conservator and Curator James W. Howard, Jr .

Conservator of T ex tiles Yvonne A. A. Cox Assistant Restorer Leo V. Klos, Jr. Conservation Technicians Marjorie R. Bullock Melanie Gifford Pam M. Peterson John A. Specker Susan E. Weiss Ana Wertelecki Lawrence R. Williams

SECURITY AND MAINTENANCE

Supervisor of Buildings John F. Niland Security Foremen Patrick T. Niland Patrick J. Naughton Maintenance Foreman Alfred J. Smith Shop Technician Michael Finnerty MAINTENANCE AND WATCH

Robert Anderson Elizabeth Bing Patrick Burns Exibee Coleman Stephen F. Duffe William Evans Robert French Michael A. Kennedy Thomas Little Yvonne Mercer George P. Peck John J. Pelechowicz Thomas J. Sisco Alfonso Walker GUARDS

Walter A. Benson Stanley F. Bentley Kenwood M . Cappers Jeremiah J. Clifford John J. Coffey Edward F. Conley James J. Culhane Bernard Doherty Benjamin J. Donahue Alfred J. Donnell Edward P. Downs Frederick C. Doyle Dennis Fitzgerald John W. Fleming Anthony Flynn

*on regular duty 31 December 1973

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Francis R. Gillis Albert B. Gordon Edward Gray John H . Holland Patrick Hurley Neil E. Jamieson Thomas J. Jennings John J. Kennedy Erving L. Kinney Daniel J. McGuire Charles A. McStravick Daniel O 'Connell Edwin J. Olson John Pantano Charles R. Parsons Joseph Rajunas John C. Rihner Martin J. Roper Patrick H. Slevin David A. Twomey GARDENING

Head Gardener Robert M. MacKenzie Gardeners Michael Cogavin Martin Davis Charles P. Healy, Jr. Joseph F. Kiarsis Stanley Kozak John A. Madden