The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Allegorical Figure

Allegorical Figure

c. 1636
(Italian, 1581?-1644)
Framed: 178.5 x 133.5 x 12 cm (70 1/4 x 52 9/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 145.8 x 99.8 cm (57 3/8 x 39 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The preparatory drawing for this painting is also in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (1953.626).

Description

During the 1630s, the Genoese artist Bernardo Strozzi painted a number of female figures representing various intellectual and artistic pursuits, reflecting the appeal of such allegories among learned patrons in northern Italy. Recent scholarship has convincingly identified the subject of this painting as Minerva. The Roman goddess of war has put aside her armor for more contemplative pursuits; her upward gaze—as if seeking inspiration—recalls her other associations with wisdom, eloquence, and the arts.
  • Until 1929
    Collection of Italico Brass, Venice, Italy)
    1929
    Sold from the Italico Brass collection, Venice, with the assistance of Harold Woodbury Parsons to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1929 -
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Thieme, Ulrich, Felix Becker, Fred. C. Willis, and Hans Vollmer. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1907. Mentioned: Vol. XXXII, p. 208
    Milliken, William M. "Minerva by Bernardo Strozzi." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XVI, no.4 (April, 1929): 63-66. Reproduced: p. 61, detail; p. 62
    Siple, Ella S. "Art in America, Italian Baroque Painting." The Burlington Magazine LV (1929): 105-106. Mentioned: P. 105; reproduced: Pl. A
    "Cleveland Gets Gem By Rococo Master." Art Digest III, no. 14 (April 1929): 15.
    Published as Minerva. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 15
    "Cleveland Acquires Strozzi Minerva." ARTnews (April 6, 1929): 13.
    Published as Minerva. Mentioned: P. 13
    "La Vie Artistique a l'Etranger." La Revue de l’Art Ancien et Moderne LVI (June 1929): 267-275, Mentioned and reproduced: P. 269-270
    The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XVII, no.3 (March, 1930).49-56. Mentioned: p. 55; Reproduced: p. 53
    Freund, Frank E. W. "Ausstellungen und Heuerwerbungen der Amerikanischen Museen." Der Cicerone: Halbmonatsschrift für die Interessen des Kunstforschers und Sammlers XXII, no. 5 (1930): 121-129. Reproduced: P. 138
    Hitchcock, Henry Russell, Jr. "The St. Catherine by Bernardo Strozzi." Bulletin of the Wadsworth Atheneum IX (1931): 13-15. Mentioned: P. 15
    Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. New York: E. Wyhe, 1933. Reproduced: Vol. III, pl. 582
    "Bibliografia dell'Arte Italiana." L'Arte (Gennaio 1934): 78-98. Mentioned: P. 79
    Milliken, William Mathewson. The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: The Art news, 1936. Reproduced: no. 133, pl. XXXVI
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936. Mentioned: no. 166; reproduced: pl. XXXVI
    "The 20th Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art." ARTnews 34, no. 37 (June 13, 1936): 6-14. Mentioned: P. 10
    Arslan, Edoardo. "Quattro Piccoli Contributi." Critica d'Arte III (1938): 75-79. Mentioned: P. 77, n. 9
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland],1945. Reproduced: P. 53
    Francis, Henry S. "A Pieta by Bernardo Strozzi." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XL, no. 8 (October, 1953):182-183. Mentioned: p. 182-183
    Mortari, Luia. "Su Bernardo Strozzi." Bollettino d'Arte XL (1955): 311-333. Mentioned: P. 328
    Francis, Henry S. "A Drawing for Strozzi's Minerva." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XLIII, no. 6 (June, 1956):123-126. Reproduced: p. 125
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 423 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 114 archive.org
    Mortari, Luisa. Bernardo Strozzi. Roma, Italy: De Luca, 1966. Mentioned: p. 61, 99, 173; Reproduced: p. 224, fig. 408
    Matteucci Armandi, Anna Maria. Bernardo Strozzi. Milano: Fratelli Fabbri, 1966. Reproduced: Pl. VI
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 114 archive.org
    Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. Mentioned: p. 193, 473, 573
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 136 archive.org
    Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. Mentioned: p. 45-46; Reproduced: fig. 52
    Pallucchini, Rodolfo, and Maria Maddalena Palmegiano. La pittura veneziana del Seicento. Venezia, Italy: Alfieri, 1981. Reproduced: p. 160, vol. I
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 420; Mentioned: p. 421-422
    Pesenti, Franco Renzo. La pittura in Liguria: artisti del primo seicento. Genoa, Italy: Cassa di risparmio di Genova e Imperia, 1986. Reproduced: p. 64, fig. 36
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 229
    Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Storia di Venezia--temi. Roma, Italy: Instituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1994. Reproduced p. 160
    Spicer, Joaneath, Peter M. Lukehart, and Martha Lucy. Bernardo Strozzi: Master Painter of the Italian Baroque (1581/2-1644). Baltimore, MD: Walters Art Gallery, 1995. Reproduced: no. 25
    Mortari, Luisa. Bernardo Strozzi. Roma, Italy: De Luca, 1995. Reproduced: p. 201, no. 532
    Strozzi, Bernardo, Ezia Gavazza, Giovanna Nepi Sciré, Giovanna Rotondi Terminiello, and Giuliana Algeri. Bernardo Strozzi: Genova 1581/82-Venezia 1644. Milano: Electa, 1995. cat. no. 103, pp. 62, 222-23, 304-05
    Cuccia, Antonio. "La Prima Maturita Di Pietro Novelli. Contributi All'attivita Giovanile/ Antonio Cuccia." Bollettino d’arte del Ministero della educazione nazionale 108, Serie VI (Aprile-Giugno 1999): 19-56. Reproduced: P. 51, fig. 49
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 56, fig. 1
    Orlando, Anna, and Stefano Magnasco. Stefano Magnasco: e la cerchia di Valerio Castello. Cinisello Balsamo, Milano, Italy: Silvana, 2001. Reproduced: pl. 241
    Manzitti, Camillo. Bernardo Strozzi. Torino, Italy: U. Allemandi, 2013. Mentioned: p. 70, 218, 326
  • Bernardo Strozzi: Genova 1581/82-Venezia 1644. Palazzo Ducale (Genova), Genova, Italy (May 6-August 6, 1995); The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (September 10-November 26, 1995).
    CMA, 1980: "Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism," Gallery J, February 19-March 23, 1980, fig. 52,p. 46. (not exhibited)
    Bernardo Strozzi, Paintings and Drawings. Binghamton University Art Museum, Binghamton, NY (organizer) (October 8-November 5, 1967).
    The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, March 1940: "Four Centuries of Venetian Painting," catalogue no. 46, plate 46.
    San Francisco, California, California Palace of Legion of Honor, June 24-July 24, 1938: "Venetian Paintings XV through XVIII Century"
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
  • {{cite web|title=Allegorical Figure|url=false|author=Bernardo Strozzi|year=c. 1636|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.133