A Legendary Scene
ArtistUnknown,
Unidentified Netherlandish Painter
(Dutch, active ca.1500)
Dateca. 1500
CultureNetherlandish
MediumDistemper on canvas affixed to wood
ClassificationPaintings
ProvenanceÉmile Gavet, Paris, approximately 1870s-1880s; sold to Mr. and Mrs. William K. and Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, Gothic Room, Marble House, Newport, Rhode Island, 1889-1982; transfered to Mrs. Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont in divorce; purchased by John Ringling, 1928; bequest to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1936-present.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN307
In the foreground, a noble couple enjoys a banquet before the entrance to a Carthusian monastery. One monk holds his hand to his chest in a gesture of affection, seemingly enthralled with the young wife. The unhappy resolution of the tale plays out in the background, where the same monk and woman are attacked by large bears, perhaps as a punishment for adultery. The repetition of the same figure within one work to illustrate a story developing over time, known as continuous narrative, was one method of depicting multiple scenes from a tale within a single panel.
On View
On viewLocation
DimensionsIMAGE: 56 7/8 x 40 1/4 in. (144.5 x 102.2 cm)- Museum of Art, Gallery 03, Wall North
FRAMED: 78 3/4 x 50 x 3 7/8 in. (200 x 127 x 9.8 cm)
Sienese
