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ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Σ³»­ Magazine ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Σ³»­ Ridley-Tree Collection Continues to Grow

ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Σ³»­ Ridley-Tree Collection Continues to Grow
Rupp, Judy Larson (right) and Alisha Paulsen admire newly acquired prints


The ΒιΆΉ΄«Γ½Σ³»­ Ridley-Tree Museum of Art exhibited recent acquisitions during the summer, including a painting by Benvenuto Tisi and works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso and Mary Cassatt. The work by Tisi, also known as Il Garofalo, is a promised gift to Westmont by Michael Huffington in honor of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, valued at about a half-million dollars.

Tisi was an Italian Mannerist painter of the School of Ferrara. He studied in Rome with Raphael and was a contem-porary of Titian. Known for his paintings of religious subjects and mythological themes, Tisi worked through the 1550s.

la nativitΓ©The work, β€œLa Nativité” from the mid-16th century, depicts Christ’s birth, long an important subject of Christian art. β€œGarofalo’s painting is typical of an iconography that first appeared in Europe during the late 14th century,” says Judy L. Larson, Askew professor of art history and director of the museum. β€œIn this style of representation, the Virgin Mary is not depicted as recovering from childbirth; rather, she kneels before the Christ Child in adoration, who is not placed in a manger, but reclines contentedly on a pile of straw. The inclusion of angels is another iconographic development originating in the Renaissance.”