Laoco?n

• Title Laoco?n
• Creator El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
• Date Created c. 1610/1614
• Physical Dimensions overall 137.5 x 172.5 cm (54 1/8 x 67 15/16 in.) framed 176.5 x 212.7 cm (69 1/2 x 83 3/4 in.)
• Provenance Probably in El Greco's possession at his death;[1] his son Jorge Manuel Theot¨®c¨®puli, Toledo, in 1621.[2] The Infante Antonio Mar¨ªa Felipe Luis de Orle¨¢ns, Duque de Montpensier [1824-1890], Seville;[3] by inheritance to his son, the Infante Don Antonio de Orle¨¢ns, Duque de Galliera, Sanl¨²car de Barremada, C¨¢diz.[4] (Durand-Ruel, Paris) by 1910.[5] (Paul Cassirer, Berlin), by October 1915.[6] The pianist Edwin Fischer [1886-1960], Basel and Berlin, by 1923;[7] Eleanora Irme von Jeszenski von Mendelssohn, Berlin, who was divorced from Fischer in 1925, by 1926.[8] T.R.H. Prince and Princess Paul of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, Johannesburg, and Paris, by May 1934;[9] consigned 1946 by Prince Paul to (M. Knoedler and Co., London, Paris, and New York); sold February 1946 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[10] gift 1946 to NGA. [1] The inventory made of the artist's estate in 1614 included two examples of a small Laoco?n ( Un laocon peque?o) and one large painting of this subject ( Un laocon grande ). Francisco de Borja de San Rom¨¢n y Fern¨¢ndez, _El Greco en Toledo_, Madrid, 1910 193. Because the measurements of the Kress painting correspond most closely to those of the smallest of the versions cited in the inventory of 1621 (see n. 2 below), it seems likely that the Kress painting was one of the two small versions recorded in 1614. [2] The inventory made of the possessions of Jorge Manuel in 1621 includes the following items 41 Un laocon, de dos baras de largo y bara y dos terzias de alto ( A Laoco?n of two _varas_ in width and one and two-thirds of a _vara_ in height ); 179 Un laocon grande, de tres baras y media en quadrado ( A large Laoco?n, three and one-half _varas_ square ); 180 Otro laocon, casi del mismo Tama?o ( Another Laoco?n, almost the same size ); see Francisco de Borja de San Rom¨¢n y Fern¨¢ndez, De la vida del Greco, _Archivo Espa?ol de Arte y Arqueologia_ 3 (1927) 291, 301. Because a _vara_ equals approximately 84 cm., the measurements of no. 41 correspond closely to those of the Kress painting. The difference in the numbers of large and small versions of the subject mentioned in the two inventories suggest that Jorge Manuel sold one of the two smaller paintings in his father's estate and that he or another artist in the workshop produced another large copy of the composition before 1621. Alternatively, a mistake may have been made in one of the inventories. Many previous scholars have maintained that the Kress painting was in the Spanish royal collection in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Manuel B. Coss¨ªo, _El Greco_, Madrid, 1908 362; Emilio H. del Villar, _El Greco en Espa?a_, Madrid, 1928 132; Walter S. Cook, El Greco's _Laoco?n_ in the National Gallery, _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ 26 (1944) 262, n. 1; Jos¨¦ Cam¨®n Aznar, _Domenico Greco_ , Madrid, 1950 2 921; Harold E. Wethey, _El Greco and His School_, Princeton, 1962 2 84, no. 127; Colin Eisler, _Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection European Schools Excluding Italian_, Oxford, 1977 198, no. K1413; William B. Jordan, _El Greco of Toledo_ [exh. cat.] (1982-1983), 257, no. 56. However, it is likely that the royal inventories refer not to the Kress painting but to one of the larger versions cited in the 1621 inventory (nos. 179 and 180). The relevant entries are as follows Alc¨¢zar, Madrid, Inventory of 1666, no. 520 3 varas casi en quadro de Lauconte y sus hijos de mano del Greco en 300 dicadps de plata ( 3 _varas_, almost square, of Laoco?n and his sons, by the hand of El Greco, at 300 silver _ducados_ ). Harold E. Wethey, letter, 22 June 1969, NGA curatorial files. Alc¨¢zar, Madrid, Inventory of 1686, no. 310 Un quadro de tres baras de largo casi quadrado de la Oconte y sus hijos de blanco y negro de mano del Griego, tiene Marco negro como las demas pinturas de esta pieza ( A painting, three _varas_ in width, almost square, of Laoco?n and his sons, in white and black by the hand of El Greco, has a black frame like the other paintings in this room ). Yves Bottineau, L'Alc¨¢zar de Madrid et l'inventaire de 1686 aspects de la cour d'Espagne au XVIIe si¨¨cle, _Bulletin Hispanique_ 60 (1958), 164. Alc¨¢zar, Madrid, Inventory of 1701-1703, no. 119 Un cuadro de tres varas de largo quasi quadrado de laoconte y sus hijos de blanco y negro de mano del Griego con marco negro tasado en cien Doblons ( A painting three _varas_ in width, almost square, of Laoco?n and his sons, in white and black by the hand of El Greco, with a black frame valued at 100 _doblones_ ). Gloria Fern¨¢ndez Bayton, ed., _Inventarios reales Testamentario del Rey Carlos II_, 6 vols., Madrid, 1975- 1 29. The dimensions given in all these inventories correspond to the now lost larger versions of the Laoco?n but not to the Kress painting. The Kress painting has also been related to references in the royal inventories of 1701-1703 and 1791 to an approximately square painting of Laoco?n, about two _varas_ across, said to be a copy of Titian. The width of this painting approximates that of the Kress painting. However, it seems most unlikely that the Kress painting would have been described as a copy of Titian, especially because an original _Laoco?n_ by El Greco and the copy after Titian were recorded in the royal collections at the same time (Fern¨¢ndez Bayton 1975-, 1 29, no. 119; 2 324, no. 581). Spanish critics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries carefully distinguished the styles of Titian and El Greco, and the compilers of the royal inventories probably would not have confused them. See, e. g. Antonio Palomino de Castro y Velasco, _El Museo pict¨®rico y escala ¨®ptica_,1715 and 1724, reprint ed., Madrid, 1947 841; and Antonio Ponz, _Viaje de Espa?a_, ed. C. Mar¨ªa de Rivero, Madrid, 1947 640. [3] _Catalogo de los cuadros y esculturas pertenecientes ¨¢ la galeria de SS. AA. RR. los Seren¨ªsmos Se?ores Infantes de Espa?a, Duques de Montpensier_, Seville, 1866 44, no. 155. [4] Manuel B. Coss¨ªo, _El Greco_, Madrid, 1908 579, no. 162. [5] Colin Eisler, 1977 (see n. 2 above), 198, 201, n. 163, no. K1413. On loan to the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, July 1911-1913. The ownership of the painting from 1911 to October 1915 is uncertain. [6] Ludwig Burchard, Werke alter Kunst aus Berliner Privatbesitzer, _Kunst und Kunstler_ 13 (1915) 525. Recorded in 1914 and again in 1915 as on loan to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin. [7] Die Zeit und der Markt Sammlungen, _Der Cicerone_ 15 (1923) 1156-1157; H. U. Schmid, ¨¹ber das Jahr 1923, _Jahresbericht der ?ffentlichen Kunstsammlungen, Basel_ 20 (1923) 6; H. U. Schmid, ¨¹ber das Jahr 1924 Gem?ldegalerie, _Jahresbericht der ?ffentlichen Kunstsammlungen, Basel_ 21 (1924) 6. [8] R. Riggenbach, ¨¹ber das Jahr 1926 Gem?ldegalerie, _Jahresbericht der ?ffentlichen Kunstsammlungen, Basel_ 23 (1926) 27; Otto Fischer, Bericht ¨¹ber das Jahr 1928 Gem?ldegalerie, _Jahresbericht der ?ffentlichen Kunstsammlungen, Basel_ (1928) 6; Otto Fischer, Bericht ¨¹ber das Jahr 1929, _Jahresbericht der ?ffentlichen Kunstsammlungen, Basel_ (1929) 34. Basic biographical information about Fischer and Von Jeszenski von Mendelssohn is given in _Neue Deutsche Biographie_ 5, Munich, 1961 180. Walter S. Cook, El Greco's _Laoco?n_ in the National Gallery, _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ 26 (1944) 262, n. 1, maintains that the _Laoco?n_ was purchased before 1914 by Fischer's wife, whom he misidentifies as Frau von Schwabach. Because this painting was owned by the dealer Cassirer in 1915, this supposition is unlikely. However, the painting may have been purchased by Fischer's wife before their marriage in 1919. Frau von Schwabach may possibly have been an earlier owner, unrelated to Fischer. [9] The painting was on loan to the National Gallery, London, May 1934-December 1935; Kenneth Clark, Report National Gallery, 1935, _National Gallery and Tate Gallery Directors' Reports 1935_, London, 1935 4. During the Second World War, Prince Paul, then resident in Johannesburg, arranged to have the painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, for safekeeping (David Edward Finley, _A Standard of Excellence Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington_, Washington, DC, 1973 89). [10] John Walker, _Self Portrait with Donors_, Boston, 1974 144-146, presents a lively discussion of the negotiations involved in the sale. See also M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Sales book No. 16; copy in NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https //kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1223.
• Rights CC0
• Medium oil on canvas

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