Medieval & Renaissance Art
In 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Frederic Oppenheimer, friends of Mrs. McNay, gave to the museum their collection of medieval and Renaissance sculptures and paintings, which they had been forming since the 1920s. The paintings, primarily altarpiece fragments and portraits, include notable works by Albrecht Bouts, the Master of Frankfurt, and Jan Gossaert (called Mabuse) among the Northern masters; and Taddeo di Bartolo and Alvise Vivarini among the Italian school artists. Sculptures in the Oppenheimer collection, several of which are parts of larger works or ensembles, are French, German, or Netherlandish. Installed in three rooms on the second floor of the museum, the Oppenheimer collection provides a fascinating parallel to the religious art of New Mexico collected by Mrs. McNay.
Left Panel - Albrecht Bouts, Moses and the Burning Bush, ca. 1490. Oil on panel, 29 7/16 x 8 7/16 in. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer, 1955.9.1
Right Panel- Albrecht Bouts, Gideon and the Fleece, ca. 1490. Oil on panel, 29 7/16 x 8 7/16 in. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer, 1955.9.2
El Greco, Head of Christ, ca.1577-79. Oil on canvas, 19 7/8 x 15 5/16 in. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay, 1950.56
Learn more about this painting in the current exhibition An El Greco Rediscovered
Master of Frankfurt, St. Catherine. Oil on panel, 13 x 9 in. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer, 1955.12
Southern Germany, Virgin and Child with a Pomegranate, mid 1400s. Wood with polychrome, 46 7/8 in. high. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer, 1955.83
