Press release: June 2006

New Loan to the National Gallery: Simone dei Crocefissi, 'The Dream of the Virgin'

'The Dream of the Virgin' by Simone dei Crocefissi (painted about 1365-1380) is going on display at the National Gallery.

This is the first work by this Italian Renaissance artist to be exhibited in the permanent collection. There are very few works by early Bolognese artists in the National Gallery, so this loan will add a new dimension to the collection of early Renaissance art in the Sainsbury Wing.

The 56x42 cm panel painting shows the Virgin lying asleep, possibly on her deathbed, while a companion at the foot of the bed reads to her. Above her, Christ is crucified not on the cross, but on a golden Tree of Life that rises from the Virgin's womb. Below her, a hand reaching down from the bed opens the gates of Limbo to release Adam and Eve.

This very unusual iconography of the Tree of Life was once hidden by a layer of re-gilding and overpainted to give the work the appearance of a more conventional Crucifixion scene. When the paint and non-original gold were removed in 1994 by conservators at the Courtauld Institute, they discovered this rare image. The Tree of Life symbolises the Virgin's role in the process of Redemption through the crucifixion.

'The Dream of the Virgin' is thought to have been made as part of an altarpiece for a Bolognese church, possibly above a 'Coronation of the Virgin'.

'The Dream of the Virgin' is one of only three works by this artist on public display in the UK - and the public has only been able to see it in its original state, for three days in the past six hundred years. It was first seen in public in its restored state 12-14 November 2003 at the Royal Society of Chemistry, as part of National Chemistry Week.

It is being lent to the National Gallery for 3 years by the Society of Antiquaries of London. The work was given to the Society in 1938 by G. McNeil Rushforth, the first Director of the British School in Rome.

It is being hung in Room 53 of the National Gallery on Thursday 15 June.

Notes for Editors

Simone dei Crocefissi (Simone di Filippo Benvenuti da Bologna) (c.1330 - 1399) was the son of a Bolognese cobbler. By 1380 he had risen be one of the aldermen governing Bologna and one of the wealthiest men in his parish. Although he worked entirely in Bologna, he had extensive knowledge of contemporary Italian painting. Simone was enormously prolific (some 70 works survive) and dominated Bolognese art during the period 1359 - 1410, through his own work and through other artists with whom he was associated. The culmination of Simone's later career was four great crucifixes, from which his nickname was derived.

Founded in 1707, the Society of Antiquaries of London is charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries.' Its 2,000 or so Fellows include many of the world's most distinguished archaeologists and art and architectural historians. The Society's Library in Burlington House is Britain's leading archaeological library; the computerised catalogue can be accessed on their website.

For further press information please contact:
Louise Butler
020 7747 2596 | louise.butler@ng-london.org.uk
or
Tracy Jones
020 7747 2512 | tracy.jones@ng-london.org.uk

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