Highlights from the Collection

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Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Religious Subjects Assembled in the Yellow Room for a Special Exhibition during Lent, March–April, 1935.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Enamels: Old and New, May 5–June 4, 1945.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Art and Fashion of the Renaissance, October 4–November 30, 1946.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Taft Enamels and the French Renaissance, March 1–27, 1966.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In Praise and in Prayer: Jewish and Christian Devotional Objects, November 21, 1991–January 10, 1992.
Ohio. Cincinnati Art Museum. Museum within a Museum: Treasures from the Taft at the Cincinnati Art Museum, January 12, 2002–February 2003 (during TMA renovation).
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In a New Light: Treasures from the Taft, July 3, 2021–May 1, 2022.

This scene of Christ’s execution provided a pious Christian with a focal point for private devotion. The owner could fold the three panels of this altarpiece—called a triptych—for storage and transport. Saint Catherine, on the right panel, holds the sword that beheaded her. At left, Saint James wears a pilgrim’s robe and shell-adorned hat. Medieval Christians, from princes to peasants, traveled to holy sites throughout Europe. Pilgrims who visited Saint James’s shrine in northern Spain received a shell-shaped badge to commemorate their journey.

Acquired by Didier Petit de Meurville, Lyon, France, 1843. Acquired by Ernest Odiot, Paris, 1889. Acquired by Cottreau. (Acquired by Duveen); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, April 13, 1904; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

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