Licensing Resources
Scene from the Legend of St. Nicholas
about 1400-1410
2010.41
Not currently on view
Artwork Details
7-5/16 x 13-9/16 in. (panel) 12-3/4 x 18-3/4 in. (framed)
Accession NumberThe Clowes Collection
CopyrightEuropean Painting and Sculpture Before 1800
Color PaletteEugen Rieffel-Müller, Frankfurt am Main, by 1925.{1} (E. & A. Silberman, New York); purchased by Dr. George Henry Alexander Clowes [1877-1958] in 1933;{2} The Clowes Fund Collection, since 1958 and on long-term loan to the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1971 (C10057); donated to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2010. {1} See Austellung von Meisterwerken alter Malerie aus Privatbesitz sommer 1925, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 1926, catalogue no. 67, in which the captions to the illustrations on plate V (catalogue nos. 67 and 121) are reversed. When William E. Suida published and illustrated the painting in an article "Some Bolognese Trecento Paintings in America," Critica d'arte, 1951, pp. 52-58, the caption was again printed erroneously as "57. Jacopo de Bologne, New York, Kress Collection" (rather than "57. Simone, Clowes Collection, Indianapolis). See Suida's letter to Dr. Clowes dated 28 October 1951 (IMA Clowes Collection Archive). {2} Appears on a list of paintings bought from Silberman by Dr. Clowes dated February 22, 1934 (IMA, Clowes Collection Archive).
In this scene from the legend of St. Nicholas, the saint secretly throws gold through the window of an impoverished nobleman's house to provide dowries for his three daughters (saving them from prostitution). Because the saint did not want his identity known, his act of charity was performed under cover of darkness while the man and his daughters slept.
This painting was once part of a predella, the lowermost section of an altarpiece, which included other episodes from the life of St. Nicholas.
Content Disclaimer and Usage Rights
Metadata about the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection comes from Newfields’ records and research. In some cases, information may be incomplete and research is ongoing. Newfields’ goal is to have as up-to-date metadata as possible, therefore, this information is subject to change. Newfields collections’ metadata is available under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver, which allows for re-use without legal restrictions.
Artworks that appear in the image file(s) above may be in copyright or have other legal and/or cultural restrictions to their use. For clarity, Newfields does not claim copyright to the image files created by Newfields of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Newfields makes every effort to ascertain the copyright status of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Please refer to the RightsStatements.org statement above for information about the current copyright status of the artwork. Additionally, some artworks may include Local Context’s Notices or Labels that attribute cultural authority of the artwork’s heritage and data.
Additional information about Newfields’ reproduction guidelines can be found in the Licensing Resources.