Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Purchase of Miss Helen Clay Frick
2016.1.1
The Arrival of the Ambassadors
circa 1911 – 1948 (Date created)
Tempera
Painting
Paintings
112.375 in L x 234.5 in W(Image)
Russian;Italian
Painted after Vitorre Carapaccio. The original is located in the Academia in Venice, and is part of a series that tells the legend of Saint Ursula.
Nicholas Lochoff (d. 1948) after Vittore Carpaccio (Venetian, c. 1460-1526)/ THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMBASSADORS. Original (1496-7) in the Academia, Venice, Tempera on canvas. This is one in a series of nine large canvases, painted by Carpaccio for the Scuola di Sant'Orsola in Venice, that tell the legend of Saint Ursula. Another painting in the series represents how Ursula, her 10 maids of honor, and the 11,000 virgins who accompanied them were slaughtered by the Huns at Cologne while returning from Rome. This scene shows the pagan Prince of Britain soliciting marriage to the Christian Ursula, Princess of Brittany. On the other side of the wall, Ursula is listing her demands to her father, including the prince's conversion and three years for a pilgrimage to Rome. It was not unusual to show figures more than one in a painting, as it helped to clarify the narrative. Here, Ursula's father is shown in the two scenes in order to advance the story.
This is one in the series of nine canvases depicting the story of Saint Ursula, painted in the last decade of the fifteenth century for the Scuola di Sant'Orsola in Venice. The depiction of this mediaeval legend in a Venetian setting reveals much of interest concerning the ceremonies, customs, and costumes of the period. At the left are several courtiers, probably members of the Loredan family which had been a great benefactor to the Scuola. The central panel shows the English Ambassadors before Teonato, King of Brittany, to request the hand of Princess Ursula, his daughter. At the right the king, seated by a bed, discusses the proposed marriage with his daughter, while on the steps below a nurse or attendant patiently awaits the outcome. this figure, so realistically portrayed, not only enhances the story-telling element but serves to keep the composition within the establish framework (Walter Read Hovey, The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister of The Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building, 1965).
This is one in the series of nine canvases depicting the story of Saint Ursula, painted in the last decade of the fifteenth century for the Scuola di Sant'Orsola in Venice. The depiction of this mediaeval legend in a Venetian setting reveals much of interest concerning the ceremonies, customs, and costumes of the period. At the left are several courtiers, probably members of the Loredan family which had been a great benefactor to the Scuola. The central panel shows the English Ambassadors before Teonato, King of Brittany, to request the hand of Princess Ursula, his daughter. At the right the king, seated by a bed, discusses the proposed marriage with his daughter, while on the steps below a nurse or attendant patiently awaits the outcome. this figure, so realistically portrayed, not only enhances the story-telling element but serves to keep the composition within the establish framework (Walter Read Hovey, The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister of The Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building, 1965).
In Collection
Purchased by Miss Helen Clay Frick for the University of Pittsburgh (1959-present)
Boris Lochoff (until 1959)
By 1917 Lochoff had only finished and sent back to his home country 8 of these paintings. That same year there was a revolution in Russia. Lochoff was therefore stranded in Italy and cut off from the support previously provided by the Moscow Museum of Art. He was forced to sell the remaining paintings to other buyers. These buyers included Harvard University, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and the Frick Art Reference Library in New York. After Lochoff's death, Helen Clay Frick, the woman who started the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh and donated the Frick Fine Arts building to the University, acquired this collection with the help of critic and connoisseur, Bernard Berenson. She then donated it to the University of Pittsburgh to adorn the walls of this cloister.
Boris Lochoff (until 1959)
By 1917 Lochoff had only finished and sent back to his home country 8 of these paintings. That same year there was a revolution in Russia. Lochoff was therefore stranded in Italy and cut off from the support previously provided by the Moscow Museum of Art. He was forced to sell the remaining paintings to other buyers. These buyers included Harvard University, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and the Frick Art Reference Library in New York. After Lochoff's death, Helen Clay Frick, the woman who started the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh and donated the Frick Fine Arts building to the University, acquired this collection with the help of critic and connoisseur, Bernard Berenson. She then donated it to the University of Pittsburgh to adorn the walls of this cloister.
Mary Logan Berenson, "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930), pp. 628-638.
Zoa Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters", The Christian Science Monitor, Weekly Magazine section. (October 31, 1934), pp. 8-9; ill. p. 8.
Zoe Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters: Nicholas Lochoff - captures aura of antiquity in exact copies of Italy's fading treasures". (1934)
Edgar Peters Bowron, "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). pp. 131, not repr.
"[Unidentified article]". Fogg Art Museum Notes. Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
"A Copy of Gozzoli's Masterpiece". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "Preserving the Old Masters by Copying", Transcript (December 31, 1930). p.5, reproduced b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930). pp. 628-638.
Royal Cortissoz. "Their Appeal to Lovers of our True Tradition". New York Herald Tribune. New York, NY. (March 15, 1931). p.8
Maurice Grosser. "Painter's Progress". C.N. Potter. New York, NY. (1971). Reproduced. p.32, fig. 10.
Edgar Peters Bowron. "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard University Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). p.110.
Marylynne Pitz. "Rare murals being restored in Pitt fine arts building". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (May 25, 2003).
Bill Homisak. "Fabulous Renaissance fakes at Frick offer faux fun". Tribune-Review. (August 27, 1989).
Jonathon Keats. "Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age". Oxford University Press. (2013).
Zoa Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters", The Christian Science Monitor, Weekly Magazine section. (October 31, 1934), pp. 8-9; ill. p. 8.
Zoe Grace Hawley, "New Life for Old Masters: Nicholas Lochoff - captures aura of antiquity in exact copies of Italy's fading treasures". (1934)
Edgar Peters Bowron, "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). pp. 131, not repr.
"[Unidentified article]". Fogg Art Museum Notes. Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
"A Copy of Gozzoli's Masterpiece". The Harvard Crimson. Cambridge, MA. (February 12, 1921). p.6, repro. b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "Preserving the Old Masters by Copying", Transcript (December 31, 1930). p.5, reproduced b/w.
Mary Logan Berenson. "A Reconstructor of Old Masterpieces", The American Magazine of Art. (November 1930). pp. 628-638.
Royal Cortissoz. "Their Appeal to Lovers of our True Tradition". New York Herald Tribune. New York, NY. (March 15, 1931). p.8
Maurice Grosser. "Painter's Progress". C.N. Potter. New York, NY. (1971). Reproduced. p.32, fig. 10.
Edgar Peters Bowron. "European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum". Harvard University Art Museums. Cambridge, MA. (1990). p.110.
Marylynne Pitz. "Rare murals being restored in Pitt fine arts building". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (May 25, 2003).
Bill Homisak. "Fabulous Renaissance fakes at Frick offer faux fun". Tribune-Review. (August 27, 1989).
Jonathon Keats. "Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age". Oxford University Press. (2013).
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.
Italians
Renaissance
Cloisters
Architectural decorations and ornaments
Tempera paintings
Venetian
Renaissance
Cloisters
Architectural decorations and ornaments
Tempera paintings
Venetian