This panel was originally part of the base (predella) of the nearby altarpiece, one of three scenes focused on Christ’s last days. Christ prays before his arrest, while his disciples slumber around him. The small angel who proffers a chalice or cup is a visualization of Christ’s thoughts—“let this cup pass from me”—as he slowly accepts his fate. Raphael depicted the scene in a delicate landscape, with each of the sleeping followers in a carefully observed pose.
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Fig. 1. Reconstruction of altarpiece: top and center: Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints (16.30ab); bottom, left to right: Saint Francis of Assisi (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London), The Agony in the Garden (32.130.1), The Procession to Calvary (National Gallery, London), Pietà (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston), Saint Anthony of Padua (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London)
Artwork Details
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Title:The Agony in the Garden
Artist:Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)
Date:ca. 1504
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:9 1/2 × 11 3/8 in. (24.1 × 28.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Funds from various donors, 1932
Object Number:32.130.1
the convent of Sant'Antonio da Padova, Perugia (until 1663; sold to Christina); Christina, former Queen of Sweden, Rome (1663–d. 1689; unnum. inv., ca. 1689); Cardinal Decio Azzolino, Rome (d. 1689); his nephew, marchese Pompeo Azzolino, Rome (1689–96; sold to Odescalchi); principe Livio Odescalchi, duca di Bracciano, Rome (1696–d. 1713); marchese Baldassare Odescalchi-Erba, later principe Odescalchi, Rome (1713–21; sold to Orléans); Philippe II, duc d'Orléans, Palais Royal, Paris (1721–d. 1723); ducs d'Orléans, Palais Royal (1723–85); Louis Philippe Joseph, duc d'Orléans, Palais Royal (1785–92; sold to Walckiers); vicomte Edouard de Walckiers, Brussels (1792; sold to Laborde); his cousin, François de Laborde-Méréville, Paris, later London (1792–98; consigned to Jeremiah Harman; sold through Michael Bryan to consortium of Bridgewater, Carlisle, and Leveson-Gower); Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, and George Granville Leveson-Gower, later 1st Duke of Sutherland, London (1798–1800; exhibited for sale, Mr. Bryan's Gallery, London, December 26, 1798ff., no. 114, for 1,200 gns., bought in; sale, "Remaining Part of the Orleans' Collection of Italian Paintings," Bryan's Gallery, Peter Coxe, Burrell, and Foster, February 14, 1800, no. 46, for 42 gns.); John Clerk, Lord Eldin, Edinburgh (by 1820–d. 1832; his estate sale, Thomas Winstanley & Sons, Edinburgh, March 15, 1833, no. 111, for £157.10.0); Samuel Rogers, London (by 1838–d. 1855; his estate sale, May 2, 1856, no. 625, for 450 gns. to Burdett); Angela Georgina Burdett, later Baroness Burdett-Coutts, London (1856–d. 1906; her estate, 1906–22; her estate sale, Christie's, London, May 4–5, 1922, no. 118, for £7,350 to Duveen); [Duveen, New York, 1922–24; sold to Mackay]; Clarence H. Mackay, Roslyn, N.Y. (1924–32; cat., 1926, no. 9; sold to The Met)
Edinburgh. Institution. . . of the Fine Arts. "Second Annual Exhibition, Paintings by Ancient Masters," 1820, no. 26 (lent by John Clerk) [see Zeri and Gardner 1980].
Manchester. Art Treasures Palace. "Art Treasures of the United Kingdom," May 5–October 17, 1857, no. 137 (lent by Miss Burdett Coutts).
London. Gallery of the Society of British Artists. "Exhibition for the Benefit of the Distressed Peasantry of France . . .," [1871], no. 129 (as "Christ on the Mount of Olives," lent by Miss Burdett Coutts).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," 1876, no. 180 (lent by the Baroness Burdett Coutts).
Corporation of London Art Gallery. "Loan Collection of Pictures," June 12–August 31, 1890, no. 39 (lent by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," January–March 1893, no. 152 (lent by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," January 6–March 15, 1902, no. 11 (lent by Baroness Burdett-Coutts).
New York. Duveen. "Early Italian Paintings," April 17–May 3, 1924, no. 22 (lent by Clarence H. Mackay, Harbor Hill, Roslyn, Long Island).
New York. Jacques Seligmann. "Loan Exhibition of Religious Art," March–April 1927, no. IV (lent by Clarence H. Mackay).
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Raphael and America," January 9–May 8, 1983, no. 56.
London. National Gallery. "Raphael: From Urbino to Rome," October 20, 2004–January 16, 2005, no. 40.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece," June 20–September 4, 2006, no. 1C.
Bergamo. Accademia Carrara. "Raffaello e l'eco del mito," January 27–May 6, 2018, no. 19.
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 12–October 17, 2021, unnumbered cat.
Osaka. Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," November 13, 2021–January 16, 2022.
Tokyo. National Art Center. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," February 9–May 30, 2022.
Giorgio Vasari. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori. Ed. Gaetano Milanesi. 1906 ed. Florence, 1568, vol. 4, p. 324, attributes the altarpiece to Raphael, stating that it was painted for the nuns of Sant'Antonio da Padova, Perugia; describes the central panel, the lunette, and the three narrative panels of the predella.
Raffaello Borghini. Il riposo. Florence, 1584, p. 387.
Giovanni Battista Baldozzi. Document. June 7, 1663 [Archivio notarile di Perugia], details the sale of the predella to Queen Christina of Sweden and the copy made by Claudio Inglesi.
Catalogo dei quadri della regina di Svezia. April 25, 1689, unnumbered catalogue [Archivio Palatino, Rome; published in "Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti," by Giuseppe Campori, Modena, 1870, p. 359; Getty no. I-2094], lists it as by Raphael.
[Louis François] Du Bois de Saint Gelais. Description des tableaux du Palais Royal. Paris, 1727, p. 437.
[Louis François] Du Bois de Saint Gelais. Description des tableaux du Palais Royal. 2nd ed. Paris, 1737, pp. 434–36, calls it an early work by Raphael.
Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France. . . [Cabinet Crozat]. [3rd ed.]. Paris, [1763], vol. 1, pp. 11–12, pl. XXV (engraving, in reverse, by Jean Charles Flipart), as in the collection of the duc d'Orléans.
J[acques]. Couché. Galerie du Palais royal, gravée d'après les tableaux des differentes ecoles qui la composem . . . Vol. 1, Paris, 1786, p. 3, unnumbered pl. (engraving by Couché fils & Lienard).
Annibale Mariotti. Lettere pittoriche perugine o sia ragguaglio di alcune memorie istoriche risguardanti le arti del disegno in Perugia al Signor Baldassare Orsini. Perugia, 1788, p. 125 n. 2, discusses the sale of the various parts of the altarpiece, with reference to the original documents [see Ref. Baldozzi 1663].
C[harles]. P[aul]. Landon. Vies et oeuvres des peintres les plus célèbres de toutes les écoles. Vol. 4, Suite de l'oeuvre de Raphaël. Paris, 1805, p. 18, pl. CCXXVI (engraving in reverse by Flipart).
W[illiam]. Buchanan. Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution. London, 1824, vol. 1, p. 46, lists it as from the Orléans collection, and as valued at 100 guineas.
Quatremère de Quincy. Histoire de la vie et des ouvrages de Raphaël. Paris, 1824, pp. 28–29, refers to the altarpiece as lost.
Quatremère de Quincy. Istoria della vita e delle opere di Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. Ed. Francesco Longhena. Milan, 1829, p. 44 n. *.
G. K. Nagler. Rafael als Mensch und Künstler. Munich, 1836, pp. 54–55.
Gustav Friedrich Waagen. Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris. Vol. 1, 1837, pp. 408, 507.
G[ustav]. F[riedrich]. Waagen. Works of Art and Artists in England. London, 1838, vol. 1, p. 329, no. 11; vol. 2, p. 136, believes that only the composition can be ascribed to Raphael himself, and that the execution was carried out by an assistant; remarks on the bad condition of the work.
J. D. Passavant. Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi. Vol. 1, Leipzig, 1839, p. 87.
J. D. Passavant. Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi. Vol. 2, Leipzig, 1839, pp. 40–41, attributes it to an assistant, working from a drawing by Raphael.
Giovanni Rosini. Storia della pittura italiana esposta coi monumenti. Vol. 4, Pisa, 1843, p. 55.
Mrs. Jameson. Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London. London, 1844, p. 399, no. 29.
William Hazlitt. Criticisms on Art. London, 1844, appendix IX, no. 2, attributes it to Raphael and dates the altarpiece 1505.
G. K. Nagler. Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. Vol. 14, Munich, 1845, pp. 301–2, calls this one the weakest of the predella panels.
Charles Lock Eastlake. Contributions to the Literature of the Fine Arts. London, 1848, pp. 218–19.
[Gustav Friedrich] Waagen. Treasures of Art in Great Britain. London, 1854, vol. 2, pp. 76, 494 [text similar to Ref. Waagen 1838].
W. Burger [Théophile Thoré]. Trésors d'art exposés à Manchester en 1857. Paris, 1857, pp. 53–55 [reprinted as "Trésors d'art en Angleterre," Brussels, 1860, with same pagination], dates the altarpiece 1505; states that it was sold at the Orléans sale for forty-two guineas.
G[eorge]. S[charf]. A Handbook to the Paintings by Ancient Masters in the Art Treasures Exhibition. London, 1857, p. 26, remarks that it is in very bad condition.
J. D. Passavant. Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi. Vol. 3, Leipzig, 1858, p. 90, notes an engraving made by L. Gruner in 1849.
J.-D. Passavant. Raphael d'Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi. Paris, 1860, vol. 1, pp. 71–72; vol. 2, pp. 27–29, no. 25.
Franz Kugler. Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei seit Constantin dem Grossen. Vol. 2, Die italienische Kunst des XV. u. XVI Jahrhunderts. 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1867, p. 183.
Ernst Förster. Raphael. Vol. 1, Leipzig, 1867, pp. 185–86, 233.
Exhibition for the Benefit of the Distressed Peasantry of France, Removed from the French Gallery, Pall Mall, to the Gallery of the Society of British Artists. Exh. cat., Gallery of the Society of British Artists. [London], [1871], p. 7, no. 129, as "Christ on the Mount of Olives".
"Documenti per completare la storia di alcune otere di Raffaello già esistenti nell'Umbria: Serie seconda, sulla vendita della tavola del monastero di S. Antonio da Padova di Perugia." Giornale di erudizione artistica 3 (September 1874), pp. 304–15, publishes the documents concerning the sale of the altarpiece [see Ref. Baldozzi 1663].
Paliard. "Le Raphaël d'un million." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 16 (September 1877), p. 264.
Gaetano Milanesi, ed. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori.. By Giorgio Vasari. Vol. 4, 1906 ed. Florence, 1879, pp. 324–25 n. 2, gives the ownership history of each part of the altarpiece mentioned by Vasari, plus the two predella panels depicting Saints Francis and Anthony.
Eugène Muntz. Raphaël: sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1881, pp. 215–16.
Eugène Muntz. Raphael: His Life, Works, and Times. London, 1882, pp. 209–10.
J[oseph]. A[rcher]. Crowe and G[iovanni]. B[attista]. Cavalcaselle. Raphael: His Life and Works. Vol. 1, London, 1882, pp. 235–38, believe that it was painted by a student, probably after a design by Raphael; mention an old copy, made from the same cartoon, in the collection of Professor Aus'm Weerth, Bonn.
Jean Paul Richter. Letter. July 1, 1882 [published in "Italienische Malerei der Renaissance im Briefwechsel von Giovanni Morelli und Jean Paul Richter," Baden-Baden, 1960, p. 226], calls it a minor school work.
Alfred Woltmann and Karl Woermann. History of Painting. Vol. 2, The Painting of the Renascence. London, 1887, pp. 534, 652 n. 86, tentatively identify the Weerth version [see Ref. Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1882] as the original, stating that it bears the stamp of the Orleans collection, but doubt that any part of the predella was painted by Raphael himself.
W[oldemar]. v[on]. Seidlitz. "Winterausstellung der Londner Akademie 1893." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 16 (1893), pp. 232–33, considers it a poorly executed work by Raphael.
Anton Springer. Raffael und Michelangelo. 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1895, vol. 1, pp. 76–77.
Olof Granberg. La galerie de tableaux de la reine Christine de Suède ayant appartenu auparavant à l'empereur Rodolphe II plus tard aux ducs d'Orléans: recherche historique et critique. Stockholm, 1897, pp. 9, 32, no. 17, App. III, p. LXXIII, no. 144, pl. XXIV, fig. 3 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980], considers it the original by Raphael and publishes the inventory of 1689 in which it is listed.
Julia Cartwright. "The 'Madonna di Sant' Antonio,' by Raphael, from the Sedelmeyer Collection." Art-Journal (October 1901), p. 286, attributes all five predella panels to Raphael's workshop.
[Max J.] Friedländer. "London: Die Leihausstellung der Royal Academy von 1902." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 25 (1902), p. 143, states that if it is genuine, it has been repainted.
J[ean]. Paul Richter. "The 'Old Masters' at Burlington House, 1902." Art-Journal, n.s., (1902), p. 84, attributes it to Eusebio da San Giorgio, working from a design by Raphael.
Adolf Rosenberg. Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1905, p. 147.
Georg Gronau. Raffael. 1905, p. 223 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980], attributes it to Eusebio da San Giorgio, working from a drawing by Raphael.
Paul Clemen. Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz. Vol. 5, part 3, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt und des Kreises Bonn. Düsseldorf, 1905, p. 231, considers the Weerth version to be the original by Raphael.
W. Roberts. Pictures in the Collection of J. Pierpont Morgan at Princes Gate & Dover House, London. Vol. 2, Dutch & Flemish, French, Italian, Spanish. London, 1907, unpaginated, states that it was bought for Lady Burdett-Coutts for 450 guineas at the Rogers sale in 1856.
Adolf Rosenberg and Georg Gronau. Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde. Stuttgart, 1908, p. 223, agree with Richter [see Ref. 1902] that the predella was probably painted by Eusebio da San Giorgio, after a design by Raphael.
Catalogue of a Collection of Pictures of the Umbrian School. Exh. cat., Burlington Fine Arts Club. London, 1910, p. 39, under no. 50, pl. XXI.
A[dolfo]. Venturi. "La pittura del quattrocento." Storia dell'arte italiana. Vol. 7, part 2, Milan, 1913, p. 782, fig. 595.
B[ryson]. B[urroughs]. "A Loan Exhibition of Mr. Morgan's Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 8 (January 1913), pp. 4–5 [reprinted as pamphlet, "Collection of Paintings Lent by J. Pierpont Morgan," at least 7 eds., p. 2], mentions that Morgan owns a drawing for this work.
Casimir Stryienski. La Galerie du Régent Philippe, duc d'Orléans. Paris, 1913, pp. 25, 29, 61, 159, no. 131, attributes it to Raphael and dates it about 1503; gives provenance information.
Oskar Fischel. Raphaels Zeichnungen. Vol. 2, Berlin, 1919, text brochure, p. 91, under no. 66, fig. 77 [see Ref. Wehle 1940], catalogues Raphael's drawing in the Morgan collection; considers the predella to be partially a product of the artist's workshop.
Felix Lavery. Raphael. London, 1920, p. 13, includes it in a section with the heading "1507—Perugia".
Adolfo Venturi. Raffaello. Rome, 1920, pp. 119–21, fig. 37.
"Burdett-Coutts Pictures: First Day's Sale at Christie's." Times (May 5, 1922), p. 13, states that the picture sold for 7,000 guineas to Duveen at the Burdett-Coutts sale.
Paul Schubring. "Die Predella zu Raffaels Altar für S. Antonio in Perugia." Der Cicerone 15, no. 1 (1923), pp. 3–6, believes the Weerth/Gitterman version to be the original formerly in the Orléans collection and the one engraved by Flipart.
Adolf Rosenberg and Georg Gronau. Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde. 5th ed. Stuttgart, 1923, pp. 223–24, pl. 26 [see Ref. Zeri and Gardner 1980].
W. R. V[alentiner]. "The Clarence H. Mackay Collection." International Studio 81 (August 1925), pp. 335, 345, ill. p. 344, considers it the original and attributes it to Raphael; erroneously states that the chief panel of the predella is in the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan.
A[dolfo]. Venturi. Storia dell'arte italiana. Vol. 9, part 2, La pittura del cinquecento. Milan, 1926, pp. 122–23, fig. 51.
W. R. Valentiner. A Catalogue of Early Italian Paintings Exhibited at the Duveen Galleries New York: April to May, 1924. New York, 1926, unpaginated, no. 22, ill.
Seymour de Ricci. "Raphaël en Amérique." La Renaissance 9 (December 1926), pp. 1013–14, 1016, ill. p. 1012.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. The Clarence H. Mackay Collection: Italian Schools. New York, 1926, unpaginated, no. 9, ill.
A[dolfo]. Venturi. Studi dal vero attraverso le raccolte artistiche d'Europa. Milan, 1927, p. 199 [similar text to Ref. Venturi L'arte 1927].
Adolfo Venturi. "Una tavoletta col San Francesco di Raffaello nella Galleria di Stato a Dresda." L'arte 30 (1927), pp. 82–83, believes that the three narrative panels of the predella were originally separated by four small panels depicting standing saints: the two at Dulwich, which he identifies as Saint Anthony and an unknown Franciscan saint, one in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, which he identifies as Saint Francis, and a lost panel.
Esther Singleton. Old World Masters in New World Collections. New York, 1929, pp. 90–92, ill.
Lionello Venturi. Pitture italiane in America. Milan, 1931, unpaginated, pl. CCCXXXIII.
Philip Hendy. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Catalogue of the Exhibited Paintings and Drawings. Boston, 1931, p. 283, dates the altarpiece between 1503 and 1505.
Bernhard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932, p. 481, lists it as by Raphael and dates it 1505.
Lionello Venturi. Italian Paintings in America. Vol. 3, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. New York, 1933, unpaginated, pl. 442, dates the altarpiece 1504–5.
Bryson Burroughs. "Two Great Pictures." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 28 (March 1933), pp. 57–59, ill. (cover).
Het vaderland (April 7, 1933), p. C1.
Hans Tietze. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935, p. 329, pl. 76b [English ed., "Masterpieces of European Painting in America," New York, 1939, p. 313, pl. 76b], dates it 1504–5, while noting that "some scholars consider this panel to be the work of a pupil, and [that] the advanced composition, especially the Apostle on the right, does in fact point to a date later than 1505".
O[skar]. Fischel inAllgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. Ed. Hans Vollmer. Vol. 29, Leipzig, 1935, p. 434, of the predella panels, considers only the two Dulwich saints to be by Raphael.
Bernhard Berenson. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936, p. 414.
Vincenzo Golzio. Raffaello. Vatican City, 1936, pp. 347, 356 n. 1, p. 362.
Arthur Kay. Treasure Trove in Art. Edinburgh, 1939, p. 122, ill.
Giorgio Nicodemi. Raffaello Sanzio. Milan, 1939, p. 20, pl. XXIII, dates it 1502–5.
Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, pp. 117–21, ill.
W[illiam]. E. Suida. Raphael. New York, 1941, p. 31, pl. 91 [2nd ed., 1948, pp. 23, 27, pl. 14a].
Luigi Serra. Raffaello. Turin, 1945, p. 38.
Sergio Ortolani. Raffaello. 2nd ed. Bergamo, 1945, p. 20.
Richard C. Jebb. "The Classical Renaissance." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 5 (November 1946), pp. 74–75, ill. (framed with central panel and lunette).
Oskar Fischel. Raphael. London, 1948, vol. 1, p. 358, dates the altarpiece about 1504 and mentions "a much discussed replica [of this panel] in private possession".
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 80.
Roberto Longhi. "Percorso di Raffaello giovine." Paragone 6 (May 1955), p. 21, calls the predella panels Florentine and Leonardesque.
Ettore Camesasca. Tutta la pittura di Raffaello. Vol. 1, I quadri. Milan, 1956, pp. 41–42, pl. 40–41A.
Ottorino Gurrieri. I tesori artistici di Perugia in Italia e nel mondo. Perugia, n.d., unpaginated, pls. 56 (framed with central panel and lunette), 57a, dates the altarpiece 1504.
Cecil Gould. The Sixteenth-Century Italian Schools (Excluding the Venetian). London, 1962, pp. 156–57, under no. 2919.
Anna Maria Brizio inEnciclopedia universale dell'arte. Vol. 11, Venice, 1963, col. 225.
Creighton Gilbert. "A Miracle by Raphael." North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 6 (Fall 1965), pp. 8–9, 12, 19–21, 32 n. 1, fig. 12, dates the altarpiece about 1505, after Raphael's return from Florence.
Luitpold Dussler. Raffael: Kritisches Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Wandbilder und Bildteppiche. Munich, 1966, pp. 21, 26, 41, 52–53, no. 91.
Pierluigi De Vecchi inL'opera completa di Raffaello. Milan, 1966, pp. 92–93, no. 42E, ill. [English ed., 1966], dates the central panel, lunette, and two Dulwich saints 1503–5, and the three narrative predella panels 1505.
Ellis Waterhouse. "Queen Christina's Italian Pictures in England." Queen Christina of Sweden: Documents and Studies. Ed. Magnus von Platen. Stockholm, 1966, p. 374, no. 39.
Bernard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central Italian and North Italian Schools. London, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 351–53.
Anna Forlani Tempesti in "The Drawings." The Complete Work of Raphael. New York, 1969, p. 329, believes that the predella was probably the final part of the altarpiece to be painted.
Calvin Tomkins. Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1970, pp. 224, 237 [rev., enl. ed., 1989].
John Pope-Hennessy. Raphael. New York, 1970, pp. 134, 136–37, 278 n. 13, fig. 122, attributes it to Raphael.
Luitpold Dussler. Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of his Pictures, Wall-Paintings, and Tapestries. London, 1971, pp. 14–16, pl. 39.
John Pope-Hennessy. "What did Raphael Paint? [review of Dussler 1971]." Times Literary Supplement (June 11, 1971), p. ?, corrects two points from Dussler's text, noting that Claudio Inglesi copied the entire predella, not just the Boston panel, and that a second painting depicting the Agony in the Garden mentioned by Vasari is not another version of the MMA work.
Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. 172, 282, 607.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Boston, 1974, pp. 193–94, dates the altarpiece between 1503 and 1506.
Konrad Oberhuber Princeton University. Lecture. 1975, suggests that the altarpiece was begun soon after the completion of the Saint Nicholas of Tolentino altarpiece (destroyed), at the end of 1501 or the beginning of 1502; believes the predella was probably painted last.
Edward Fowles. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976, p. 157.
James H. Beck. Raphael. New York, 1976, p. 88, fig. 16, dates the altarpiece about 1505, stating that the entire work was painted in Florence.
Konrad Oberhuber. "The Colonna Altarpiece in the Metropolitan Museum and Problems of the Early Style of Raphael." Metropolitan Museum Journal 12 (1977), pp. 59, 75, 78, 87, figs. 11 (framed with central panel and lunette), 21 [similar text to Ref. Oberhuber 1975].
Everett Fahy. "Italian Paintings at Fenway Court and Elsewhere." Connoisseur 198 (May 1978), pp. 39–40, fig. 16 (reconstruction), dates the altarpiece about 1505; suggests that the two small Dulwich saints may have formed part of the altarpiece and may have been located at the ends of the predella under the pilasters that flanked the central panel, Anthony on the left and Francis on the right.
Rollin van N. Hadley. "What Might Have Been: Pictures Mrs. Gardner Did Not Acquire." Fenway Court (1979), fig. 22 (framed with central panel and lunette).
Wilhelm Kelber. Raphael von Urbino: Leben und Werk. Stuttgart, 1979, pp. 423–24, no. 38, pl. 38.
Federico Zeri with the assistance of Elizabeth E. Gardner. Italian Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sienese and Central Italian Schools. New York, 1980, pp. 72, 75–78, pl. 111.
Peter Murray. Dulwich Picture Gallery. London, 1980, p. 99.
Pier Luigi De Vecchi. Raffaello, la pittura. Florence, 1981, pp. 27–28, 96 n. 29, p. 241, no. 18c, fig. 26, dates the central portion of the altarpiece 1503–5, and the predella 1504–5.
David Alan Brown. Raphael and America. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983, pp. 29, 38, 87, 119–24, 190 nn. 44, 46–47, 51, colorpl. 10, figs. 51 (x-ray), 55 (detail), no. 56.
Fausta Gualdi Sabatini. Giovanni di Pietro detto Lo Spagna. Spoleto, 1984, vol. 1, p. 104; vol. 2, pl. 256b.
Sylvia Ferino Pagden. "Raffaello giovane e gli artisti umbri contemporanei." Arte cristiana 73 (July–August 1985), p. 273.
Dillian Gordon. "The Conservatism of Umbrian Art: Raphael and Before." Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 134 (January 1986), p. 110, dates the altarpiece about 1505; accepts Fahy's [see Ref. 1978] reconstruction of the predella although finding it more likely that Saint Francis would have been on the left and Saint Anthony on the right.
Francesco Federico Mancini. Raffaello in Umbria: cronologia e committenza, nuovi studi e documenti. Perugia, 1987, pp. 16, 18, 63 n. 38, p. 64 n. 51, fig. 8.
Carmen Bambach Cappel. "The Tradition of Pouncing Drawings in the Italian Renaissance Workshop: Innovation and Derivation." PhD diss., Yale University, New Haven, Conn., 1988, vol. 2, part 2, pp. 304–6, under no. 224, discusses its relationship to the drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.
Sylvia Ferino Pagden and Maria Antonietta Zancan. Raffaello: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1989, pp. 22–23, no. 8, ill.
Hubert Locher. Raffael und das Altarbild der Renaissance: Die "Pala Baglioni" als Kunstwerk im sakralen Kontext. Berlin, 1994, pp. 36, 38–39, 42, 137 n. 3, fig. 34.
Pierluigi De Vecchi. Raffaello: la mimesi, l'armonia e l'invenzione. Florence, 1995, pp. 30, 206–7, under no. 18.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 131, ill.
Elizabeth A. Pergam. ""Waking the Soul": The Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857 and the State of Arts in Mid-Victorian Britain." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2001, vol. 1, p. 100 n. 80.
Jürg Meyer zur Capellen. Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings. Ed. Stefan B. Polter. Vol. 1, The Beginnings in Umbria and Florence, ca. 1500–1508. Landshut, Germany, 2001, pp. 175–78, 182, 185, no. 17C, ill. p. 79 (color), 176, lists four copies after the painting [mistakenly including the Hauth/Cologne picture as two separate works] and four prints after it.
Meryle Secrest. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004, p. 475.
Carol Plazzotta et al. inRaphael: From Urbino to Rome. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2004, pp. 9, 33, 150–51, 153, 155–56, 209, no. 40, ill. (color).
Elizabeth A. Pergam. "From Manchester to Manhattan: The Transatlantic Art Trade After 1857." Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 87, no. 2 (2005), pp. 75–76, 85, 90, reproduces a sketch by George Scharf recording the placement of this work at the Manchester exhibition of 1857.
Linda Wolk-Simon. "Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 63 (Spring 2006), pp. 11, 21, 29–30, 32, 36–42, 60 n. 22, p. 61 nn. 46, 56, pp. 63, 65, 69, no. 1C, color figs. 8 (reconstruction of altarpiece), 9, and 32 (reconstruction and elevation of altar wall).
Tom Henry. "United They Stand." Apollo (August 2006), pp. 63–64, fig. 1 (color, reconstruction), believes that discrepencies can be attributed to condition and to an extended period of execution rather than to the participation of a collaborator.
Tom Henry inLe Pérugin: maître de Raphaël. Exh. cat., Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris. Brussels, 2014, p. 191, under nos. 51–52.
Ralf Scholz. "Zu einem jetzt entdeckten hl. Sebastian und dem Predellenprogramm von Raffaels Pala Colonna." Das Münster 67, no. 4 (2014), pp. 287–97, colorpl. 14 (predella reconstruction), reidentifies the Dulwich panel of Saint Francis as Saint Berard of Carbio and adds two more small panels of standing saints to the predella (see also Venturi 1927): Saint Francis (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden; 21.6 x 14.3 cm; Gal.-Nr. 39) and Saint Sebastian (private collection, 21.3 x 11.4 cm).
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 272, under no. 167.
Maria Rita Silvestrelli inRaffaello e l'eco del mito. Exh. cat., Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. Venice, 2018, p. 37.
Paola Frau inRaffaello e l'eco del mito. Exh. cat., Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. Venice, 2018, pp. 163, 167, 180–81, no. 19, ill. pp. 182 (color), 184 (color, altarpiece reconstruction).
Françoise Mardrus inThe Orléans Collection. Exh. cat., New Orleans Museum of Art. New Orleans, 2018, p. 68, fig. 3.22b (color).
Xavier F. Salomon inThe Orléans Collection. Exh. cat., New Orleans Museum of Art. New Orleans, 2018, p. 126.
Julia I. Armstrong-Totten inThe Orléans Collection. Exh. cat., New Orleans Museum of Art. New Orleans, 2018, p. 247.
Katharine Baetjer inEuropean Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. South Brisbane, 2021, pp. 69, 232, ill. p. 68 (color).
This panel formed part of the predella of an altarpiece commissioned from Raphael by the convent of Sant'Antonio da Padova in Perugia. Most scholars believe that the altarpiece was completed in 1505, after Raphael's return to Perugia from Florence, but was begun at an earlier date. The central panel (the Madonna and Child enthroned with saints) and lunette (God the Father with angels) of the altarpiece are also in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum (16.30ab).
The predella of the altarpiece was composed of three narrative panels which would have been arranged as follows, from left to right: this panel, the Road to Calvary (National Gallery, London), and the Lamentation (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston). Two smaller panels of standing figures depicting Saints Anthony of Padua and Francis (both Dulwich College Picture Gallery, London) most probably would have been located at either end of the predella, under the pilasters framing the central panel.
In 1663, when the predella panels were sold by the convent, Claudio Inglesi, a French painter working in Perugia, made a copy of the three narrative panels as a replacement for the originals; his work is now in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia.
A drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, is a preparatory study for this panel, and is pricked for transfer. A second drawing in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, is evidently either a contemporary copy after the Morgan work or another original study by Raphael. Both drawings differ from the finished painting in showing the chalice standing on the mound at the upper right, rather than held by the angel. An x-ray shows that this unusual scheme was originally also followed in the painting. The present angel was probably added in order to conform to the more common iconography.
A copy of this work was formerly in the collections of Ernst aus'm Weerth, Bonn; John Milton Gitterman, Washington, D.C.; and Arthur Hauth, Düsseldorf (sold, Lempertz, Cologne, March 14, 1963, no. 14).
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) (Italian, Florence 1501–1547 Rome)
ca. 1524–26
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