The Raising of Lazarus

mid 1490s

Benozzo Gozzoli

Associated Names
Benozzo Gozzoli

Artist, Florentine, c. 1421 - 1497

This is a painting of a group of people gathered around a cave-like structure in a hilly landscape. The people have light skin and wear ornate and flowing robes in shades of pink, teal, and gold, and they are gathered closely together, some gesturing towards the cave. At the mouth of the cave, a man wrapped in strips of off-white cloth stands, looking out at the crowd. Two other men stand next to him, appearing to remove his cloth wrappings. To the right, in the center of the image, a man with long golden hair faces the cave and raises one arm. He wears blue and gold robes over a white garment, and his other hand holds a golden book. There is a halo behind his head. Behind him are ten other men of varying ages wearing colorful robes who also have halos. In the background are hills, greenery, and a sprawling city of white buildings with red roofs that extend towards the horizon. Tall palm trees punctuate the landscape, and the sky above is light blue with pink clouds.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil (?) on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.5 x 80.2 cm (25 13/16 x 31 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.24

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Cav. Gualtiero Kennedy Laurie, Florence, by 1859.[1] William Blundell Spence [1814-1900], Florence.[2] (Haskard and Co., Florence) on joint account with (Charles Fairfax Murray, London and Florence), for (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[3] purchased 15 August 1897 by Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsyvlania;[4] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] According to the "Check list of paintings and sculptures handled by Spence" in John Fleming, "Art Dealing in the Risorgimento. Part 3," The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 918 (September 1979): 579. Laurie lent two paintings to the 1861 exhibition in Florence, NGA 1942.9.24 and a Deposition attributed to Paolo Veronese; nothing else is yet known about him.
[2] The date of the painting's passage to Spence's collection is unknown. On Spence see also Donata Levi, "William Blundell Spence e Firenze," in Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia a Firenze, 1820-1920, Pisa, 1985: 87-178.
[3] According to the Getty Provenance Index; the painting was Agnew's stock number 7907. The 1900 catalogue of the Widener collection indicates the painting was "purchased in Italy by Messrs. Thos. Agnew & Sons."
[4] Widener collection records, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1861

  • Catalogo della Esposizione di oggetti d'arte del Medio Evo e dell'epoca del Risorgimento dell'arte, fatta in Firenze in Casa Guastalla, Florence, 1861, Room I, no. 18.

Bibliography

1900

  • Catalogue of Paintings Forming the Private Collection of P. A. B. Widener. Ashbourne, near Philadelphia. II: Early English and Ancient Paintings. Paris, 1900: cat. 200, repro.

1901

  • Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7(1911):430 n. 1.

1909

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, 3rd ed. London, 1909: 115.

1916

  • Berenson, Bernard, and William Roberts. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early Italian and Spanish Schools. Philadelphia, 1916: unpaginated, repro.

1919

  • Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Paintings. Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA, 1919: 65.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

  • Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 11(1929):216 n. 1.

1930

  • Hoogewerff, Godefridus Johannes. Benozzo Gozzoli. Paris, 1930: 93.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 142, repro.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 264.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 226.

1938

  • Waldmann, E. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 340.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 5.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 8, repro.

1963

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:97.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 61.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 54, repro.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 25, 646.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli pittore fiorentino. Florence, 1972: 88, 148, pl. 229.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 160, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:228-229; 2:pl. 155.

  • Fleming, John. "Art Dealing in the Risorgimento, 3." The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 918 (1979): 579.

1980

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Note su un ‘San Gerolamo penitente’ di Benozzo.” Antichità Viva 19, no. 3 (1980): 15, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Alesso di Benozzo.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 90, no. 53, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 186, repro.

1987

  • Pope-Hennessy, John, and Laurence B. Kanter. The Robert Lehman Collection. Vol. 1: Italian Paintings. New York, 1987: 186, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and the Alunno di Benozzo (i.e. Alesso di Benozzo).

1989

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Arte e committenza a Pistoia alla fine del XV secolo: Benozzo Gozzoli e i figli Francesco e Alesso. Nuove Ricerche. Pistoia, 1989: 12-13, 25.

1992

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Il tironcinio dell’artista: la bottega come luogo di formazione.” In Mina Gregori, Antonio Paolucci and Cristina Acidini Luchinat, eds. Maestri e botteghe: pittura a Firenze alla fine del Quattrocento. Exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1992: 94.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli. Catalogo completo. Florence, 1992: 19, 141, 143, cat. 75, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Alesso di Benozzo.

  • Acidini, Cristina. “Le pitture murali.” In Cristina Acidini, ed. I restauri nel Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Rinascimento e Barocco. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 1992: 15.

  • Bernacchioni, Annamaria. “Le botteghe di pittura: Luoghi, strutture e attività.” In Mina Gregori, Antonio Paolucci and Cristina Acidini Luchinat, eds. Maestri e botteghe: pittura a Firenze alla fine del Quattrocento. Exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1992: 116-117.

1994

  • Acidini, Cristina. Benozzo Gozzoli. Florence and New York, 1994: 70, 77, fig. 109.

1996

  • Ahl, Diane Cole. Benozzo Gozzoli. New Haven, 1996: 198, 199, 266, pl. 248, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Alesso di Benozzo.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Arte a Pistoia nel Quattrocento.” In Chiara d’Afflitto, Franca Falletti, and Andrea Muzzi, eds. L’Età di Savonarola: Fra’ Paolino e la pittura a Pistoia nel primo ‘500. Exh. cat. Palazzo Comunale, Pistoia, 1996: 48.

1997

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna, ed. Arte e committenza in Valdelsa e Valdera: con Benozzo, catalogo di un itinerario pittorico. Florence, 1997: 45, 156, 157, repro., as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Alesso di Benozzo.

2001

  • Nessi, Silvestro. Benozzo Gozzoli. La vita - Le opere. Perugia, 2001: 61.

  • Bagemihl, Rolf. “Reflections on Nicolas Froment’s Uffizi Altarpiece.” In Andrew Ladis and Shelley E. Zuraw, eds. Visions of Holiness: Art and Devotion in Renaissance Italy. Athens, GA, 2001: 182, fig. 2.

2002

  • Quodbach, Esmée. "The Last of the American Versailles: The Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall." Simiolus 29, no. 1/2 (2002): 94.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. “Una lunga vita operosa.” In Bruno Toscano and Giovanni Capitelli, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli allievo a Roma, maestro in Umbria. Exh. cat. Chiesa – Museo di San Francesco, Montefalco, 2002: 37.

  • Capitelli, Giovanna, and Graziano Alfredo Vergani. Benozzo Gozzoli: A growing workshop. Milan, 2002: 63.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 352-356, color repro.

  • Padoa Rizzo, Anna. _Benozzo Gozzoli. Un pittore insigne, “pratico di grandissima invenzione”. _Milan, 2003: 253, 257, 262, fig. 5, as by Benozzo Gozzoli and Alesso di Benozzo.

  • Mencarelli, Rosaria. “La carriera di Benozzo Gozzoli.” In Matteo Ceriana, Valentina Maderna, and Cristina Quattrini, eds. Brera mai vista. Il colore di Benozzo Gozzoli: Due predelle della Pinacoteca di Brera. Exh. cat. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 2003: 41.

2005

  • Kanter, Laurence, and Pia Palladino. Fra Angelico. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005: 310.

2021

  • Bertini, Stefania, and Alice Vignoli. "Benozzo Gozzoli. Vita e opere maggiori." In Serena Nocentini and Valentina Zucchi, eds. Benozzo Gozzoli e la Cappella dei Magi. Exh. cat. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, 2021: 91.

2022

  • Acidini, Cristina, et al., eds. Maddalena: il mistero e l’immagine. Exh. cat. Musei San Domenico, Forlì, 2022: 420.

2023

  • Tartuferi, Angelo. “Piero del Pollaiolo, Sant’Antonino ai piedi del Crocifisso: una nuova leggibilità per un capolavoro d’arte e di devozione.” Quaderni del Museo di San Marco, no. 5 (2023): 37 n. 29.

Wikidata ID

Q20174622

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