The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Head of an Italian Woman

Head of an Italian Woman

c. 1847
(French, 1824–1904)
Framed: 60 x 51 x 6 cm (23 5/8 x 20 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 44.5 x 36 cm (17 1/2 x 14 3/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Gérôme spent the years 1843 and 1844 in Rome, where this work was painted. The woman's severe expression and drapery recall ancient Roman statuary as well as the 19th-century belief that the essence of the antique could still be found amid the ruins and people of contemporary Rome.
  • Perhaps Italienne commissioned from the artist by Joseph Courcelles, Vesoul, before 1847. Goupil to Hoey, New York, 1867, as an étude, for ff 250. Probably acquired as Tête d'Italienne from Gérôme by Goupil, May 1871, for ff 2,250 and sold to Everard, London, for ff 3,000, and then Goupil bought it back in London, May 1871, for ff 3,500 and sold it 31 July 1871 to Knoedler, New York, for ff 4,000 francs on a fixed account.3 Boussod, Valadon & Cie to Delmonico, New York, 1885. Belgian private collection. Christie's, London, 20 February 1976 (lot 153, repr.), Study of a Roman, property of a Belgian private collector, £400. Shepherd Gallery, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980.
  • Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 290-293, Vol. I, no. 104
    Ackerman, Gerald M. Jean-Léon Gérôme: monographie révisée, catalogue raisonné mis à jour. Courbevoie: ACR, 2000. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 210-211, cat. 9
  • Jean-Léon Gérôme. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (June 15-September 12, 2010); Musée d'Orsay, 75343 Paris, France (organizer) (October 18, 2010-January 23, 2011).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (6/15/2010 - 9/12/2010) and Musée d'Orsay, Paris (10/18/2010 - 1/23/2011): "Jean-Léon Gérôme"
  • {{cite web|title=Head of an Italian Woman|url=false|author=Jean-Léon Gérôme|year=c. 1847|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.264