Netherlandish School
15th century
Kneeling Lady
9 1/2 x 7 3/8 inches (242 x 186 mm)
Pen and two shades of brown ink, with black chalk, on paper.
I, 227
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Watermark: none visible through lining.
This striking drawing of a gracefully kneeling lady relates to the work of Hugo van der Goes, who had a short but successful career in Ghent in the 1470s. The mechanical contour lines of the drapery indicate that, like so many other early drawings, this is a copy. The delicate, layered hatching lines in the lady's face, however--typical of Hugo's drawing style--betray the copyist's intimate knowledge of his work and suggest he trained in his workshop. It is likely that the prototype, and perhaps also this copy, served as a model for a female saint in paintings or miniatures. -- Exhibition Label, from "Hans Memling: Portraiture, Piety, and a Reunited Altarpiece"
This striking drawing of a gracefully kneeling lady relates to the work of Hugo van der Goes, who had a short but successful career in Ghent in the 1470s. The mechanical contour lines of the drapery indicate that, like so many other early drawings, this is a copy. The delicate, layered hatching lines in the lady's face, however--typical of Hugo's drawing style--betray the copyist's intimate knowledge of his work and suggest he trained in his workshop. It is likely that the prototype, and perhaps also this copy, served as a model for a female saint in paintings or miniatures. -- Exhibition Label, from "Hans Memling: Portraiture, Piety, and a Reunited Altarpiece"
Associated names
Goes, Hugo van der, 1435?-1482, School of, Formerly attributed to.
Anonymous, Flemish School, 15th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Greville, Charles, 1762-1832, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Anonymous, Flemish School, 15th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Greville, Charles, 1762-1832, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 4, no. 3, repr.
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : drawings by the old masters formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 227, repr. (as Flemish School, 15th cent.)
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : drawings by the old masters formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 227, repr. (as Flemish School, 15th cent.)
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Century Drawings
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