Co-published with the Philadelphia Museum of Art

When the Philadelphia lawyer John G. Johnson began to collect art in the late nineteenth century, he defied contemporary taste by acquiring Italian paintings from the early Renaissance. He eventually donated his distinguished collection to the City of Philadelphia, and it is now housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Although there have been several catalogues of these paintings, including one by Bernhard Berenson in 1913, Carl Brandon Strehlke, Adjunct Curator of the Johnson Collection, has prepared the first complete scholarly examination. His discussion of such art historical questions as dating and attribution combines extensive archival research with information he gained through his technical study of the paintings with Mark S. Tucker, the Museum's Vice Chairman of Conservation and Senior Conservator of Paintings.

Strehlke's introduction sheds new light on Johnson's collecting and traces the history of the acquisition, conservation, and installation of the Philadelphia paintings. Subsequent chapters situate detailed discussions of the pictures within the context of richly detailed biographies. All the paintings are furnished with a full description; technical report; provenance; art historical commentary; discussion of related works; comparative illustrations; and bibliography.

This extensively illustrated book also provides an appendix of punch marks and a bibliography of some 2,500 entries.

About the Author

Carl Brandon Strehlke is Adjunct Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Reviews

"This catalog of the Italian portion of the museum collection, including a small number of non-Johnson acquisitions, is masterfully done; it hits the same high standard as recent catalogs in this area from London and Washington exhibitions."

-D. Pincus Choice

"This catalogue will be of great interest to the scholar, providing a vast amount of information, both visual and factual, particularly with regard to punch marks. It is a work to be celebrated and cherished."

-Susan Martin The Art Book

"Although this is not the first catalog dedicated to the John G. Johnson Collection, adjunct curator Carl Brandon Strehlke has done here a wonderful job, in a lavish, hardcover book that can be considered as a model in the art book genre. I see Italian Paintings, 1250-1450 as one of the most beautiful art books published in the United States during 2004. Academics in art history and religious studies will be delighted by that reading."

-Yves Laberge Heliotropia

"This handsome, lavishly illustrated, and meticulously researched volume is the first comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the collection and the collector."

-Sara Nair James Sixteenth Century Journal

Book Information
ISBN 9780271025377
Author Carl Strehlke
Format Hardback
Page Count 600
Imprint Pennsylvania State University Press
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 3461g
Dimensions(mm) 305mm * 254mm * 45mm