Donne Triptych

The Donne Triptych (or Donne Altarpiece) is a hinged-triptych altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Hans Memling. It consists of five individual panel paintings: a central inner panel, and two double-sided wings. It was painted for the soldier, courtier and diplomat Sir John Donne, probably sometime between the late 1470s or early 1480s, and contains portraits of Donne, his wife and daughter.^[1] It is kept in the collection of the National Gallery, London, with the panels still in their original frames.

When Donne commissioned the work is unknown. Art historians have debated whether it was painted in the early 1480s, around the same time Memling painted Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara, in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An earlier date of sometime in the late 1470s is possible, at the time he completed the similar St John Altarpiece, or it may have been painted as a precursor to that altarpiece.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The donor, Sir John Donne of Kidwelly, was a Picardy-born Welsh diplomat for the House of York who visited Bruges at least once, in 1468 to attend Charles the Bold and Margaret of York's wedding; how he became acquainted with Memling is as uncertain as when he commissioned the triptych.^[5]

The triptych was acquired for the National Gallery in 1957 from the Chatsworth Collection of the 10th Duke of Devonshire in part settlement of duty on his estate.^[6]

References

^ Bauman (1986), p. 25
^ "Virgin and Child with Saints". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
^ Donne Triptych Archived April 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. National Gallery. Retrieved May 30, 2014
^ Blum, 92
^ Bruce, 79
^ "Now on view at the National Gallery: The Memlinc Triptych from Chatsworth". Illustrated London News. 29 March 1958. p. 498.

Sources

Bauman, Guy. "Early Flemish Portraits 1425-1525". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, volume 43, no. 4, 1986. JSTOR 3269088
Blum, Shirley Neilson. Early Netherlandish Triptychs: A Study in Patronage. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969
Bruce, Donald. Contemporary Review. Aug 94, Vol. 265 Issue 1543, p. 72.

[1] Bauman (1986), p. 25

[Met-2] "Virgin and Child with Saints". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved May 30, 2014.

[NG-3] Donne Triptych Archived April 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. National Gallery. Retrieved May 30, 2014

[4] Blum, 92

[Bruce79-5] Bruce, 79

[6] "Now on view at the National Gallery: The Memlinc Triptych from Chatsworth". Illustrated London News. 29 March 1958. p. 498.

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v t e Hans Memling
Individual religious panels	Virgin and Child Enthroned with two Musical Angels, c. 1467 Scenes from the Passion of Christ, c. 1470 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1471 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1475 Madonna and Child with Angels, c. 1479 Allegory with a Virgin, c. 1479–1480 Advent and Triumph of Christ, c. 1480 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1480 Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, c. 1480 Angel Musicians, 1480s Pagagnotti Triptych, c. 1480 Christ Surrounded by Musician Angels, c. 1480s Annunciation, 1480s Adam and Eve, c. 1485 Bathsheba, c. 1485 Madonna and Child with Saint James and Saint Dominic, c. 1485
Polyptychs	Last Judgment, c. 1467–1471 Diptych of an elderly couple, c. 1470–1472 Diptych of Jean de Cellier, c. 1475 Jan Floreins Altarpiece, 1479 St John Altarpiece, 1479 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1479–1480 Adriaan Reins Altarpiece, 1480 Donne Triptych, c. 1480 Moreel Triptych, 1484 Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, c. 1485 Benedetto Portinari Triptych, 1487 Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487 St. Ursula Shrine, c. 1489 Christ Surrounded by Singing and Music-making Angels, c. 1483–1494
Portraits	Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat, c. 1465–1470 Portrait of a Man, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Tommaso Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Maria Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of an Elderly Man, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of an Elderly Woman, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of a Man with a Pink Carnation, 1475 Portrait of Benedetto Portinari, 1478 Portrait of Willem Morell, c. 1480 Portrait of a Man with a Roman Medal, c. 1480 Portrait of Barbara van Vlaendenbergh, c. 1480 Sibylla Sambetha, c. 1480 Portrait of Folco Portinari, c. 1490