Giovanni da Rimini, active 1292 – 1336, ‘Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and other Saints’, 1300 – 05. Oil, tempera and gilding on wood, 54.4 x 36.5 cm NG6656. The National Gallery, London. Acquired with a generous donation from Ronald S. Lauder, 2015
Giovanni da Rimini masterpiece bought by NGA London Giovanni da Rimini’s ‘Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and other Saints’ – the only high-quality work from 14th-century Rimini still in Britain – has been acquired by the National Gallery, London.]]>
August 1, 2015, source: National Gallery, London
The gold-ground panel, painted around 1300-05, had been in the collection of the Dukes of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle since 1853, until it was sold at auction in July 2014. A temporary export bar was placed on the 700-year old painting by the Minister for Culture following a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. This was in order to give a UK gallery the chance to match the price and keep it on public display in the UK.
American businessman, philanthropist, and art collector, Ronald S Lauder, has now stepped in to provide the funding to enable the painting to be bought by the National Gallery. The 52.5 x 34.3 cm panel will be loaned to him for his lifetime. It has, however, been agreed that ‘Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and other Saints’ will return regularly to Trafalgar Square during this period – this will initially be in 2017 – and then up to once every three years after that. At the end of the loan the painting will return to the National Gallery permanently.
‘Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and other Saints’ – which is in excellent condition for a work over 700 years old – unites the exquisite detail of late Byzantine icons with a new, more expressive style. Its inclusion in the collection will allow the National Gallery for the first time to demonstrate to its visitors a key moment in European art, when Western painting (as we now know it) with its emphasis on observation and realism, was born.
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