Art Talk: Provenance

What is Provenance?

A record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality.

As I was doing research for NGA Andrew Mellon and the Hermitage Tour I discovered that Raphael's Alba Madona has a very interesting history or provenance.

Raphael
The Alba Madonna, 1510

The Provenance of The Alba Madonna

Person	Picture	Information
Possibly Paolo Giovio, appointed to the Bishopric of Nocera by Clement VII in 1528		Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate. Personal physician for Cardinal Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (the future Pope Clement VII)
Chiesa di Monte Oliveto	no picture	Nocera de'Pagani, in southern Italy
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Sold 1686 to Gasparo de Haro y Guzman, Conde-Duque de Olivares, Marqués del Carpio and Viceroy		Spanish political figure and art collector that lived 1 June 1629 – 16 November 1687
by inheritance, Catalina Méndez de Haro y Guzmán, later Duquesa de Alba	no picture	Gasparo de Haro's daughter
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by inheritance to the Duques de Alba	no picture	no information
by inheritance to María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Alvarez		10 June 1762 – 23 July 1802 She was a Spanish aristocrat and a popular subject of the painter Francisco de Goya
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sold by her heirs to Count Edmund de Bourke		1761–1821 Danish Ambassador to Spain
Sold 1820 to William G. Coesvelt	no picture	British banker and art collector, London
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Sold 1836 to (M. Labensky) for Czar Nicholas I of Russia		He reigned as Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg
Purchased April 1931 by Andrew W. Mellon for $1,166,400, the largest sum ever paid for a painting until that time		March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937, He was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C
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Deeded 5 June 1931 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust		A private foundation housed in New York City with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gift 1937 to National Gallery of Art		Art museum in Washington, DC with collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts traces the development of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the present
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Hope you enjoyed this look at the ownership of this great painting during its 510 years. From Italy to Spain, to England, to Russia to the United States and the National Gallery of Art where it is currently located.

Sources:
Lexio.com- Provenance
NGA Provenance of The Alba Madonna
Wikipedia- Paolo Giovio
Wikipedia- Gaspar Méndez de Haro
Wikipedia- María Cayetana de Silva
Wikipedia-Edmund Bourke
Wikidata-W.G. Coesvelt
Wikipedia -Nicholas I of Russia
Wikipedia-Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
Wikipeda- Andrew Mellon
Wikipedia-Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Mellon Foundation
Wikipedia- National Gallery of Art