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Saint Christopher
Italian or Northern European
Renaissance
15th century
Medium/Technique
Metal; bronze
Dimensions
20.3 x 11 x 6 cm (8 x 4 5/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession Number51.412
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSculpture
This statuette of Saint Christopher (who carried a now-missing figure of the Christ Child) is an example-in his lyrical drapery and finely detailed face-of the International Style current in Europe in the early fifteenth century.
DescriptionBronze. Walking, bending to carry missing Child on left shoulder. Portion of staff remains in raised right hand. Hole in hem of robe and back of right knee. Dated on sole of left foot, both feet doweled for fastening.
Inscriptions1407
ProvenanceIstván (Stephen) Marczibányi, Budapest (b. 1752 - d. 1810); by inheritance within the family to István (Steven) Rakovszky (b. 1847 - d. 1910), Budapest [see note 1]; about 1912, sold by the family of Rakovszky to an anonymous dealer, who on the same day sold it to to Emil Delmár (b. 1876 - d. 1959), Budapest and New York; 1951, sold by Emil Delmár to the MFA for $16,000. (Accession Date: March 8, 1951)
Notes:
[1] The provenance of this sculpture was provided by Emil Delmár at the time of its acquisition. Delmár shipped his art collection out of Hungary and into Switzerland in 1938 and 1939. This sculpture was included in an exhibition of his collection held at the Kunstmuseum Bern in 1939/1940, "Kunst und Kunstgewerbe: Sonderausstellung" (1939-1940), cat. no. 7. The collection remained at the Kunstmuseum until the end of World War II, by which time Delmár had immigrated to New York. The collection was shipped to him there between 1945 and 1948. See Andrea Rózsavölgyi, "20 Years in Emigration: Emil Delmár and the Disintegration of His Collection," in Studies on Art and Architecture in Hungary, ed. Anna Tüskés (Budapest, 2012), 239-252.
Notes:
[1] The provenance of this sculpture was provided by Emil Delmár at the time of its acquisition. Delmár shipped his art collection out of Hungary and into Switzerland in 1938 and 1939. This sculpture was included in an exhibition of his collection held at the Kunstmuseum Bern in 1939/1940, "Kunst und Kunstgewerbe: Sonderausstellung" (1939-1940), cat. no. 7. The collection remained at the Kunstmuseum until the end of World War II, by which time Delmár had immigrated to New York. The collection was shipped to him there between 1945 and 1948. See Andrea Rózsavölgyi, "20 Years in Emigration: Emil Delmár and the Disintegration of His Collection," in Studies on Art and Architecture in Hungary, ed. Anna Tüskés (Budapest, 2012), 239-252.