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The Entombment of Christ
Luca Giordano (Italian (Neapolitan), 1634–1705)
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
68.9 x 80 cm (27 1/8 x 31 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow
Accession Number23.459
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Provenance1821, Doggett’s Repository of Arts, Boston; November 22, 1821, Doggett’s sale, Blake and Cunningham, Boston, lot 6 [see note 1], probably to Ethan Allen Greenwood (b. 1779 – d. 1856) for the New England Museum, Boston [see note 2]; 1839, New England Museum closed and its contents sold to Moses Kimball (b. 1809 – d. 1895) for the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, Boston [see note 3]. By 1880, Thomas Gold Appleton (b. 1812 - d. 1884), Boston [see note 4]; to his nephew, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1845 - d. 1921), Boston; 1923, bequest of Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 1, 1923)
NOTES:
[1] As Bassan[o], "Taking Down from the Cross." On Doggett’s Repository of Arts, see Richard Nylander, “Framing the Interior: The Entrepreneurial Career of John Doggett,” Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 88, Boston Furniture, 1700-1900 (Boston, 2016).
[2] On November 22, 1821, Greenwood recorded that he “went to Central Wharf & got 22 pictures & put them into the Gallery.” See Georgia Brady Barnhill, “’Extracts from the Journals of Ethan A. Greenwood’: Portrait Painter and Museum Proprietor,” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society (1993), p. 153.
[3] Kimball’s Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts opened in 1841. The painting was exhibited as Bassano, “Descent from the Cross” from 1841 until at least 1849.
[4] Cicerone, “Private Galleries: Collection of Thomas G. Appleton,” Art Amateur 1880, p. 118.
NOTES:
[1] As Bassan[o], "Taking Down from the Cross." On Doggett’s Repository of Arts, see Richard Nylander, “Framing the Interior: The Entrepreneurial Career of John Doggett,” Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 88, Boston Furniture, 1700-1900 (Boston, 2016).
[2] On November 22, 1821, Greenwood recorded that he “went to Central Wharf & got 22 pictures & put them into the Gallery.” See Georgia Brady Barnhill, “’Extracts from the Journals of Ethan A. Greenwood’: Portrait Painter and Museum Proprietor,” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society (1993), p. 153.
[3] Kimball’s Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts opened in 1841. The painting was exhibited as Bassano, “Descent from the Cross” from 1841 until at least 1849.
[4] Cicerone, “Private Galleries: Collection of Thomas G. Appleton,” Art Amateur 1880, p. 118.