The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 27, 2023

The Trinity

c. 1460

Laurent Girardin

(French, 1478)

France, Lyon, 15th century

Oil on wood

Framed: 134.5 x 114.5 x 8 cm (52 15/16 x 45 1/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 114 x 94.5 cm (44 7/8 x 37 3/16 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1960.79

Location

110B Late Gothic

Fun Fact

When the painting was acquired in 1960 the artist was not yet identified.

Description

Fundamental to Christian belief, the Holy Trinity refers to the three divine persons in God—God the Father, here depicted wearing a papal tiara, God the Son, crucified on the cross, and the Holy Spirit, represented as a dove. Juxtaposed with the Trinity's austere depiction are cherubim bathed in radiant red light, possibly influenced by stained glass windows that Girardin also designed in Lyon. God the Father wears a liturgical vestment, a sumptuous and bejeweled cope, or cape, fastened below the neck, typically worn by clergy for processional occasions. It is made of opulent crimson velvet with gold thread forming a large pomegranate pattern.

Provenance
1897-1924
Camille Barrère (1851-1940), Rome, Italy, by descent to Mme. Albert Cousin
1924-
Mme. Albert Cousin (nee Barrère), by descent to Albert Cousin
Albert Cousin
-1960
(J. Seligmann & Co., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1960-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review| 1960.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 10 (1960). cat. no. 59 www.jstor.org
Francis, Henry S. “The Holy Trinity.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 48, no. 4 (1961). pp. 59-62 www.jstor.org
Châtelet, Albert, and Jacques Thuillier. French Painting: From Fouquet to Poussin. Geneva: Skira, 1963. p. 55
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 73 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 73 archive.org
Pearman, Sara Jane. The Iconographic Development of the Cruciform Throne of Grace from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Ann Arbor, Mich: University Microfilms International, 1974. pp. 45-55, no. 261, fig. 5
Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings Before 1500. Cleveland: The Museum, 1974. . pp. 18-20, no. 7
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 84 archive.org
Châtelet, Albert, Master of Moulins, and J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer. Jean Prévost, le Maître de Moulins. [Paris]: Gallimard, 2001. Fig. 12, p. 33
Mackie, Louise W. , "Old Cloth in New Light", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 43 no. 08, October 2003 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9 archive.org
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. p. 116, color repr. p. 41, no. 21
Exhibition history

Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).

Draped in Splendor: Renaissance Textiles and the Church. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2003-September 26, 2004).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.79