Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009422Saint Ambrose
About the Artwork
This work belongs to a series depicting Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory, key figures of early Catholicism. Saint Ambrose (about AD 340–391), the bishop of Milan, resolved important theological conflicts within the church and worked effectively with advocates of Roman paganism. The low viewpoint and large scale suggest that this painting hung high on the wall of a religious institution, but its original location remains unknown. In the late 1700s, Spain expelled all the Jesuits and sparked a transformation of the church. Many of these reformers turned back to early church history for inspiration, and this painting was probably commissioned by one of these new organizations.
Provenance
Until 1928: Marques de la Cueva del Rey, sold to Galerie Heinemann 1928-1930: (Galerie Heinemann, Munich, sold to Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi) 1930-probably 1955: Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (1878-1955), Florence, Italy, by descent to his heirs Probably 1955-late 1950s: Family of Contini-Bonacossi, probably consigned to Pinakos, Inc. Late 1950s-1969: (Pinakos, Inc./Rudolf J. Heinemann, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1969-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970). Goya y el nacimiento del liberalismo (Goya and the Spirit of Enlightenment). Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (co-organizer) (October 6-December 18, 1988); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (co-organizer) (January 18-March 26, 1989); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (co-organizer) (May 9-July 16, 1989). Goya, un regard libre (Goya, Another Look). Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille, France (December 11, 1998-March 14, 1999); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (April 17-July 11, 1999). Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 29, 2005).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828)
- Date
- c. 1796–99
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 148.7 x 225.3 x 10.3 cm (58 9/16 x 88 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.); Unframed: 190 x 113 cm (74 13/16 x 44 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 1969.23
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Open-access museum record · AT-00009422
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