The Art Institute of Chicago
Museum Studies
Volume 32, no. 2 (Fall 2006)
Edited by Gregory Nosan
While most widely known for its holdings of later European paintings, the Art Institute of Chicago also developed an important collection of works by artists once commonly known as the Old Masters—leading European artists of the fifteenth through eighteenth century—very early in its history. This special issue of Museum Studies investigates the continued power and allure of these works. Focusing on a series of splendid recent acquisitions that have added to the breadth and depth of the museum’s holdings, it also presents compelling new discoveries about objects that have been in the Art Institute for many decades. The publication, sponsored in part by the Old Masters Society of the Art Institute of Chicago, offers an introductory essay on the growth and evolution of the museum’s collection of European works of the fifteenth through eighteenth century, followed by five articles by an expert team of curators and scholars, who explore a fascinating range of objects. These include a recently rediscovered Nativity by Fra Bartolommeo; a Flemish-influenced sculpture of Saint Michael and the Devil from late-fifteenth-century Spain; a pair of early-eighteenth-century tapestries designed by the French court artist Charles Le Brun; and a stunning group of portraits by the preeminent pastelists of eighteenth-century France. Beautifully illustrated, elegantly designed, and accessible written, this issue, like the objects it showcases, will intrigue all those interested in the Art Institute and the treasures it contains.
Awarded: Honorable Mention, AAM Publications Design Competition
Articles in this publication:
Larry J. Feinberg, “A Brief History of the Old Masters in the Art Institute of Chicago”
Bruce Boucher, “’War in Heaven’: Saint Michael and the Devil”
Nicholas Turner, “Fra Bartolommeo’s Nativity: A Rediscovered High Renaissance Masterpiece”
Nicholas Turner, “Much of the Real Fascination: New Discoveries among the Italian Baroque Drawings in the Art Institute of Chicago”
Christa C. Mayer Thurman & Koenraad Brosens, “Autumn and Winter: Two Gobelins Tapestries after Charles Le Brun”
Suzanne Folds McCullagh, “’A Finess of the Crayon’: Eighteenth-Century French Portraits in Pastel”
96 pages, 8 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.
ISBN-13: 9780300119510
ISBN-10: 0300119518
