Although little is known about the Italian artist Pietro Martire Neri, this portrait illustrates his stunning mastery of beautiful coloration and intricate stylistic detail.
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The Young Christ
Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Il Sassoferrato
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The Flight from Sodom
Oil on canvas, c. 1630
Matthias Stomer
Dutch, c. 1600–after 1649
Very little is known about the artistic training of Dutch master Matthias Stomer. His works have similarities to Gerrit van Honthorst and Abraham Janssens, both in M&G’s collection. He spent some time in Rome being influenced by Caravaggio as did many of his contemporary fellow artists. He seems to have settled in Sicily and painted many biblical subjects. Though some think M&G’s The Flight from Sodom is derivative of a Rubens’ work of the same title at the Ringling in Sarasota, Florida, Stomer simply tells the “rest of the story.”
Genesis 19 reveals that the escape of Lot and his family from Sodom has two stages. First, God warns Lot of the impending destruction of Sodom for its immorality and wickedness and tells him to gather his family and escape the fate of the city. Unfortunately, his efforts are rebuffed by his sons-in-law. The delay means he is still in the city at daybreak. Then he is commanded, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain.” But in fear, Lot begs to escape to a “little” city nearby rather than the mountain of God’s dictum. God mercifully allows this change, saving Zoar from destruction for Lot’s sake.
Stomer paints the second part of the drama: Lot’s negotiating his escape into Zoar. Lot’s wife is near the back of the group, signifying her growing reluctance to leave. Her faraway gaze shows her preoccupation with the past. She will eventually look back and be turned into a pillar of salt as punishment. In the foreground the blond daughter carries a basket of gold household items and engages the audience with a direct gaze. Is she asking for sympathy? For approval of her father’s plan? She definitely challenges the viewer to contemplate the event. The other daughter, mostly hidden, carries a cloth bundle on her head. She gazes straight ahead, intent on escaping with her life.
Lot clutches his red robe to him. Is he facilitating his gait or visually showing his reluctance to leave by grasping the rich garment that indicates his prominence? His raised eyebrows indicate a question for the leading angel. His open left palm indicates that the question asked is reasonable, almost a “what about?” gesture. The lead angel looks astonished at the request, mirroring Lot’s hand position with one hand while pointing definitively forward with the other, as if to say, “You want to go there?” The second angel’s hand lies near his chin, like the professor’s “stroking his beard” as he considers a student’s idea. Lot suggests a change of plan, and the angels seem to have differing opinions on it.
It may be reading too much into the painting to see in the half-shaved little dog a lesson that Lot and his family are escaping by the “skin of their teeth.” However, the running dog has more sense than Lot who has dawdled at every turn of the story, even with his life at stake. Stomer’s background indicates that the family has taken all night to leave the city (Genesis 19:16 states that the angels had to “set him without the city”). The morning has come—the time when Lot finishes his “flight” since “the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar” (19:23). Ironically, even Stomer doesn’t finish the story. Lot and his daughters eventually find Zoar inhospitable, and the evil that Lot dreaded “in the mountain” comes to pass.
Dr. Karen Rowe Jones, M&G board member
Special Note:
Scholars have discovered that Stomer used “Naples yellow,” a color created by combining antimony and lead. First mentioned in the late 17th century, Naples yellow appears in Stomer’s early work. Determining whether the blond daughter’s robe uses Naples yellow, might facilitate dating The Flight from Sodom within Stomer’s oeuvre.
Botticelli, Michela, Costanza Miliani, Eva Luna Ravan, Claudia Caliri, and Francesco Paolo Romano. 2024. “Naples Yellow Revisited: Insights into Trades and Use in 17th-Century Sicily from the Macro X-ray Fluorescence Scanning of Matthias Stomer’s ‘The Mocking of Christ’” Heritage 7, no. 3: 1188-1201. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7030057
Published 2024
Cassone
Walnut with parcel gilt
Tuscan, 16th century
While the Museum & Gallery is most widely known for its collection of religious Old Master paintings, the founder of the museum also developed “supplemental collections of period furniture, icons, decorative arts, textiles, and objects of art” (Drama & Beauty: Great European Paintings from the Bob Jones Collection). The original intent of these sub-collections was to provide a setting for the artwork that would allow modern viewers to understand and appreciate the religious and domestic contexts in which the paintings might first have been displayed.
By the 1970s notable authorities of furniture considered these once-ancillary collections to rival some of the world’s best. Joseph Aronson, who wrote a number of authoritative histories of furniture, “considered the Renaissance furniture collection the finest in America” and lent his expertise to write a catalog containing Furniture in the Bob Jones University Collection, which was published in connection with M&G’s 25th anniversary celebration in 1976.
Specifically, this Italian Renaissance walnut and parcel-gilt Cassone epitomizes the history, breadth, and educational value of M&G’s period furniture collection. Purchased for the collection in 1966, the Cassone came from French & Company, in New York City. Founded in 1907, French & Company was once considered one of the world’s largest dealers and had provided art, furnishings, and even interior design to some of the best-known families of America’s Gilded Age, including the Vanderbilts, Astors, Gettys, Rockefellers, Mellons, and duPonts (and subsequently in the collections of the major museums endowed by those families). The company thrived under its first two generations of leadership and was noted for its library of documentation, which provided purchasers with exhaustive histories (or provenance) of the items acquired. The company was then sold several times, and much of its remaining stock was auctioned in 1968. M&G is pleased to provide a home for a number of French & Company pieces.
The history of cassoni dates back to the fourteenth century. Originally functioning as wedding chests for new couples—and paraded through the streets in wedding procession—cassoni often contained the bride’s dowry and became cherished treasures in newly established homes. The decoration of cassoni grew in sophistication over the years and entire workshops were devoted to the artform. Frequently portraying Biblical, classical, or mythological subject matter, the front panels of these chests displayed any number of craftsmanship, from carving and gilding to built-up gesso decoration and painting. Even notable artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Paolo Uccello, and Donatello applied their skills to decorate cassoni for the wealthiest clientele.
M&G’s Cassone likely dates from 16th-century Tuscany and is constructed of carved walnut. Standing on diagonally-set lion paws, the chest’s special features include gilded gadrooning, the detailed and deeply-set carving on the front and side panels, as well as the ogee dome molding. The unique top paired with the end panels shifts the most intricately carved subject matter to the front of the chest and only the front two-thirds of each side (figure 1). This technique differs from the usual appearance of cassone, which are most often depicted at the foot of a couple’s bed in Renaissance art. It’s likely that this particular cassone was commissioned to solve a specific architectural challenge in its new home—possibly resting in the shallow recess of a wall or passageway. As such, it is not typical of the traditional traveling chest, but represents “a step in the evolution of the credenza form” (Aronson).
Also of interest, the remarkably dimensional, carved frieze (figure 2) has been variously explained as a battle scene or a depiction of Death riding an ox-drawn chariot through a sacrificial scene. The key clues in the frieze include bystanders observing the action from the safety of colonnades on the left and right. Most prominently on the front left is a woman holding a round vessel and a man who appears to be strangling a sheep held aloft in front of him. The front right draws the viewer’s focus to a king, surrounded by an entourage. The central figure in the scene is indeed a man on an ox-drawn chariot, riding through a plain, which is covered by furrows and ridges. Near him are 5 warriors with weapons drawn. More difficult to see in the distance above him on the plain (moving from left to right) are a ridged-back dragon, a tree, and a walled city on a hill.
Since cassoni often depict a felicitous message for newlyweds, using classical, biblical, or mythological imagery, deciphering the elements is a fascinating undertaking. In the case of this M&G cassone, newlyweds are reminded of the exploits and love contained in the story of Jason and Medea. While there are many Greek and Roman variations of the story, the key elements remain.
Jason’s father was the rightful king of Iolcus, but was overthrown by his half-brother, Pelias. Jason’s life was saved by his mother, who sent him away to be protected and educated by the centaur Chiron. When Jason returned and wished to re-take the throne, Pelias required that he undertake a quest to find and return the Golden Fleece from where it lay in Colchis. After a series of adventures Jason and the crew of his ship Argo (hence the collective name Argonauts) arrived in Colchis, where Jason requested the fleece from King Aietes. Aietes agreed to give Jason the Golden Fleece if he accomplished three feats of bravery intended to be deadly to Jason. Unknown to the king, his daughter, Medea, was charmed to fall in love with Jason and help him survive and succeed.
First, Aietes required that Jason plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, but Medea gave him an ointment to protect him from the flames. Jason next had to sow the field with dragon’s teeth. When he did so, the teeth turned into full-grown warriors (spartoi). They would have killed Jason, had he not been told how to defeat them. He threw a stone into their midst and the confused warriors, not knowing who had thrown the stone, attacked each other.
Finally, Jason had to retrieve the Golden Fleece from where it hung on an oak in the sacred grove of Ares. The grove was protected by an undying, unsleeping dragon. Here again Medea protected Jason by administering an herbal potion that made the dragon sleep. Finally, the hero and his love Medea flee from her father and return to take the Iolcus throne from Jason’s uncle. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived; but that part of the couple’s story is—understandably—not portrayed by the artisan of this very special Cassone.
Dr. Stephen B. Jones, M&G volunteer
Sources
Aronson, Joseph. Furniture in the Bob Jones University Collection. 1976.
Drama & Beauty: Great European Paintings from the Bob Jones Collection. Museum & Gallery, Inc. in association with D. Giles Limited, 2022.
Published 2024
Mrs. Siddons as Lady Macbeth
George Henry Harlowe
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Hebrew Scroll of the Book of Esther
Gazelle skin and wood
Hebrew Scroll of the Book of Ruth
Parchment on olive wood with ivory crown
The Jewish Bible, known as the Tanakh, is divided into three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. The Writings are also in three divisions: poetry, history, and the Megillot. Synagogue worship during the five annual Jewish holidays often include reading of one of the five, short Megillot scrolls. M&G’s collection of antiquities includes two Megillot scrolls: Esther and Ruth. They are the only biblical books named for females, and both tell dramatic narratives of their heroines.
Esther
Esther, a young Jewish woman, becomes the queen of Persia when King Xerxes (or Ahasuerus) chooses her as his bride. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin and guardian, has offended the king’s chief advisor, Haman, by not bowing to him. This public insult provokes Haman to plot the annihilation of the Jewish people in Persia. When Mordecai learns of Haman’s plan, he urges Esther to use her position to save her people.
Initially Esther is reluctant. By decree, anyone entering the king’s presence without being summoned is to be put to death. Her approaching Xerxes could be fatal. Eventually she is persuaded as Mordecai says: “Who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
After three days of prayer and fasting, Esther approaches the King. He extends his golden scepter to her, sparing her life, and tells her that her petition will be granted. She invites the King and Haman to a series of banquets. At the second banquet the king repeats his offer to grant Esther’s petition. She reveals that she is a Jew and tells of Haman’s plan to kill all the Jews in Persia. The enraged king orders Haman’s execution, and it is carried out on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. The King then promotes Mordecai to Haman’s position.
The Book of Esther teaches that Divine intervention often occurs in unexpected ways. The story highlights the themes of courage, faith, justice, the reversal of evil, and the importance of standing up for one’s faith in God, even in times of peril.
After Mordecai’s promotion he writes to all the Persian Jews that they should annually “make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:22). Today the Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this deliverance of the Jews by chanting or reading aloud the Book of Esther as part of synagogue worship. M&G’s Esther scroll is just over 11 ft long, and depending on one’s pace, can take 60–90 minutes to read. During the reading many congregations participate by reciting certain verses and by using wooden noise makers (gragers) to blot out Haman’s name. Purim’s traditional celebratory meal, exchanging gifts of food, and contributions to the poor are based on Mordecai’s instructions.
Ruth
Famine causes Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons to leave Israel and live among idol-worshipers in the land of Moab. While there, the sons marry Moabite women. Eventually Elimelech and his sons die. Naomi, a grieving and bitter widow, decides to return to Bethlehem and instructs her daughters-in-law to return to their families. One does. Ruth, however, says “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
In Bethlehem, Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi’s late husband. Impressed by Ruth’s kindness to Naomi, Boaz insures she is protected while gathering barley in his fields. Seeing an opportunity, Naomi encourages Ruth to ask Boaz to redeem her, a legal condition that would wed her to Boaz and restore Naomi’s family property. Moved by Ruth’s character, Boaz is inclined to accept but recognizes that a closer relative has the right of redemption. When that kinsman declines to redeem her, Boaz marries Ruth.
The theme of redemption and the virtues of loyalty and faithfulness permeate the Book of Ruth. The universality of God’s providence is also demonstrated. Ruth and Boaz’s son, Obed, is the grandfather of the Jewish King David, which places Ruth, a converted Moabite, in the lineage of the Messiah.
Today many Jewish communities read the Book of Ruth during Shavuot, the two-day holiday that commemorates God giving Moses the Ten Commandments. Shavuot is celebrated during the time of harvest, which parallels the time of Ruth’s gathering barley. Ruth’s acceptance of the Jewish faith parallels the Jewish people accepting the Law delivered to them on Mount Sinai.
M&G’s Megillot Scrolls
To be read in synagogue worship, a scroll must be sefer (ritually clean), meeting a lengthy list of conditions. It must be handwritten by a qualified sofer, using a quill of a kosher bird (or other permitted instrument) with kosher ink, on parchment made of a kosher animal hide. M&G’s Esther scroll, for example, is written on gazelle skin.
Sefer scrolls may not have calligraphic flourishes, illuminations or illustrations. Such additions could distract the reader from thinking about the message of the text. Some Jewish groups, however, permit Megillot scrolls to be embellished. Sefer Esther scrolls have been illuminated with decorative borders and portraits of its characters for centuries. In some Jewish communities a modern scroll of Esther may have colorful, printed scenes of the story between handwritten panels of the Hebrew text. Both M&G’s Esther and Ruth scrolls lack calligraphic or other embellishments. They were probably commissioned for use in strict Jewish congregations.
While groups may differ regarding embellishments of the scroll, its protective coverings (a cloth mantle or a cylindrical box) and the wood dowel on which the scroll is rolled can be ornate. Costly embellishment of the non-textual parts of a scroll reflects a desire to recognize the scroll’s significance and the means of the individual or group commissioning the scroll. M&G’s Ruth scroll is mounted on an olive wood shaft with a carved ivory crown. The scroll is 8.5 ft long and could be read or chanted in about 30 minutes.
William Pinkston, Retired Educator and M&G Volunteer
Published 2025
Crucifix
Tempera and gold on panel, c. 1380
Francesco di Vannuccio
Sienese, active c. 1356-1389
Among the many treasures in M&G’s collection hangs a unique and exemplary example of late fourteenth-century Italian art. In 1374, the Black Death struck the city of Siena and its surrounding countryside for the third time in twenty-six years. The return of the plague devastated the city, which was already struggling from political and economic instability. Tragically, most of the victims of this wave of the Black Death were children. In the wake of this period of grief, an unknown patron commissioned Sienese artist Francesco di Vannuccio to paint a crucifix or croce dipinta (painted cross) for his or her church. During the fourteenth century, large painted crucifixes were a fixture in Italian churches. They depicted Christ dead on the cross flanked by Mary and John the Evangelist and were often highly decorated in gold. Positioned above the altar, these crucifixes provided a focal point for worshippers.
Francesco’s patron included an unusual request: the image of Mary Magdalene facing out toward the worshipper with her hands raised in the ancient orans pose of prayer. Of the 214 surviving Italian fourteenth-century crucifixes, only fourteen have Mary Magdalene present. Of those, only one intact crucifix, M&G’s, features this extremely rare imagery of Mary Magdalene. With its unique depiction of a ministering female saint, Francesco’s crucifix was born out of the need for spiritual solace in the aftermath of the Black Death.
Little is known about Francesco di Vannuccio. Few of his paintings survive. He signed only one work, a double-sided panel now housed in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie. Despite this small surviving body of work, all of Francesco’s paintings demonstrate that he possessed a keen eye for intricate decoration. He was also closely attuned to the religious concerns of his day. Francesco’s depictions of physical and emotional suffering made him stand out among his fellow artists. In his crucifix, Christ’s arms are pulled taut by the weight of His body. His fingers curl and His feet twist around the piercing nails. Blood spurts in a wide arc from the wound in His chest and drips from His head, hands, and feet. While other crucifixes show the mother of Christ serenely grieving, Francesco painted her face deeply lined in anguish. Poignantly, she reaches for her Son, something not seen in any other fourteenth-century crucifixes. Francesco’s Mary is a mother mourning the loss of her Child, a sight many worshippers would have personally related to following the third outbreak of the Black Death.
Beneath Christ’s feet, Mary Magdalene prays. Despite being one of the most popular female saints during the fourteenth century, Mary Magdalene’s presence in crucifixes is rare. Most depict her small in scale contemplating the cross. She does not directly engage with the worshipper as Francesco’s does. During the fourteenth century, Mary Magdalene was revered both as the “blessed sinner” (tradition combined her with the repentant sinful woman in Luke 7) and as the “apostle to the apostles” because of her encounter with the resurrected Christ and her role of spreading the news to His other followers. Painting the blood flowing down to her head and her bright red robes, Francesco depicted Mary Magdalene as being baptized in Christ’s blood. With her hands raised in the orans position and facing the worshipper, Francesco also depicted her as the “apostle to the apostles.” The ancient orans pose represented the worshipper’s openness to God’s grace and was a gestural expression of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. By the fourteenth century, this prayer position was reserved solely for the clergy. Thus, Francesco’s Mary Magdalene is an apostle actively ministering to the worshippers.
Painting Mary Magdalene in this active role, Francesco and his patron were likely inspired by Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). Catherine was a writer and preacher who advocated spiritual reform. She was beloved for her piety and her healing the sick during the third wave of the Black Death. In her ministry, Catherine looked to Mary Magdalene as an example of religious devotion and service. Writing to her female followers, she urged them to “follow the Magdalen, that lovely woman in love, who never let go of the tree of the most holy cross. No, with perseverance she was bathed in the blood of God’s Son…she so filled her memory and heart and understanding with it that she became incapable of loving anything but Christ Jesus.” Mary Magdalene’s love for Christ drove her to brave the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb and proclaim the news of the Resurrection to anyone who would listen.
For worshippers living in the grief-filled years of the late fourteenth century, the sight of Mary Magdalene offered comfort both in the cleansing power of Christ’s sacrifice and His Resurrection. Almost six and a half centuries later, the message of Francesco di Vannuccio’s gleaming cross continues to resonate today.
Dr. Allison Wynne Raper, Adjunct Instructor at York Technical College
For further reading:
Ole J. Benedictow. The Complete History of the Black Death. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2021.
Catherine of Siena. The Letters of Catherine of Siena. Translated by Suzanne Noffke, O.P. 4 Volumes. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000-2008.
Katherine Ludwig Janson. The Making of the Magdalene: Preaching and Popular Devotion in Late Medieval Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Published 2024
Clay Tablet
Sumerian, c. 2100-2000 BC
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