One of the Set of the Four Evangelists: Matthew

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Modeled c. 1580

Alessandro Vittoria (Italian, 1525–1608)

Alessandro Vittoria was a dominant figure in Venetian art during the last quarter of the 16th century. The Art Institute’s four sculptures, made with verve and assurance, served as models for bronze statuettes that were apparently never executed. The bronzes would have adorned niches in a tabernacle or altar, as is suggested by the summary treatment of their backs. Their poses suggest an ordering, from left to right, of Luke, Mark, Matthew, and John. The presence of their symbols—a bull for Luke, a lion for Mark, an angel for Matthew, and an eagle for John—highlights their role as divinely inspired writers of the four gospels.

Status: On View, Gallery 206
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Alessandro Vittoria
Title: One of the Set of the Four Evangelists: Matthew
Place: Venice (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Modeled 1575–1585
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: H.: 57.5 cm (22 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Kate S. Buckingham Endowment
Reference Number: 1953.328
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/79573/manifest.json

Leo Planiscig, Venezianische Bildhauer der Renaissance (Vienna, 1921), pp. 478–79, figs. 503–06.
Art Institute of Chicago, “New Acquisitions,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 47, 4 (1953), pp. 70–71.
Hans Huth, “Italienische Kunstwerke im Art Institute von Chicago, USA,” Miscellanea bibliothecae hertzianae, edited by Leo Bruhns, Franz Graf, Wolff Metternich, and Ludwig Schudt, Römische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana 16 (1961), p. 518.
New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., The Elms (June 27, 1962), p. 39, no. 189.
Georges S. Salmann, “First Stages in Starting a Collection of Bronzes,” Connoisseur 160, 643 (1965), p. 20, fig. 6.
John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (London, 1970), p. 225.
Anne Michael, Four Terracotta Statuettes Attributed to Alessandro Vittoria in the Art Institute of Chicago, master’s thesis (University of Chicago, 1977), figs. 1–8, 30.
Thomas E. Norton, 100 Years of Collecting in America: The Story of Sotheby Parke Bernet (New York, 1984), p. 172 (ill.).
Claudia Kryza-Gersch, “New Light on Nicolò Roccatagliata and His Son Sebastian Nicolini,” Nuovi Studi 5 (1998), p. 120, fig. 224.

Trent, Castello del Buonconsiglio, “La bellissima maniera, Alessandro Vittoria e la scultura del Cinquecento,” 25 June – 26 September 1999, no. 82.

Adolph Loewi, Venice, by 1939 [according to Kay Robertson, daughter of Adolph Loewi, telephone conversation, November 22, 2002, notes in curatorial file]; Adolph Loewi, Inc., Los Angeles, 1939 [according to Robertson conversation cited above]; sold to the Art Institute, 1953.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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One of the Set of the Four Evangelists: Matthew

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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