Young Virgin Mary, ca. 1640

  • Georges de La Tour, French, 1593-1652

Oil on canvas

  • Unframed: 22 3/4 × 17 1/2 inches (57.8 × 44.5 cm)
  • 29 1/4 × 24 1/8 × 2 7/8 inches (74.3 × 61.3 × 7.3 cm)

Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund

38.8

until 1794, Convent of the Minimes de Bonsecours (Nancy, France). April 1861, possibly sold by (Georges Lazard-Lévy, Nancy, France)

1861, collection Charles Friry [1802-1883] (Remiremont, France)

1883-1934, by descent to Mr. and Mrs. Charlotte (née Friry) and Marc-Edouard Waidmann [1883-1934] (Remiremont, France)

1934-1937, by descent, collection Clementine Waidmann and Pierre Waidmann [1934-1937]

1938, (Balaÿ & Carré, Paris, France)

1938-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Les Peintres de la Réalité en France au XVII Siècle. Exh. cat., Orangerie. Paris, 1934, p. 70 [cited under cat. 47, Waidmann Collection, Paris]. Valentiner, Wilhelm. "An Unknown Painting by Georges de la Tour," Bulletin of the DIA 17, no. 6 (March 1938): pp. 50-51 (ill.). “Recent Outstanding Acquisitions of American Museums,” The Art Quarterly 1, no. 2 (Spring 1938): pp. 139-148, p. 148 (ill.). “Detroit: Season's Acquisitions,” Art News 36 (July 1938): pp. 12, 22 (ill.). “Ein unbekannter Georges de la Tour,” Die Weltkunst 12, no. 15 (April 1938): p. 4 (ill.). Lane, James W. “Notes from New York,” Apollo 28, no. 167 (November 1938): pp. 253-256 (ill.). Paintings of Women from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Toronto. Toronto, 1938, p. 7, cat. 16 (ill.). Morgan, Whitney. “Recent Museum Acquisitions,” Parnassus 10, no. 7 (December 1938): 26-27, p. 27. Burroughs, Clyde and Dexter Ferry Jr. “The Arts Commission Annual Report for the Year 1938,” Bulletin of the DIA 18, no. 5 (February 1939): pp. 2-20, pp. 5, 7, 9. Richardson, Edgar Preston. “The Repentant Magdalen by Niccolo Renieri,” Bulletin of the DIA 18, no. 6 (March 1939): pp. 1-3, p. 1. Night Scenes. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum. Hartford, 1940, cat. 46 [exh. organized by A. Everett Austin, Jr.]. “Loans from the Institute Collections from 1940,” Bulletin of the DIA 20, no. 5 (February 1941): pp. 53-54, p. 53. Federal Writer’s Project. The WPA Guide to Michigan: The Great Lakes State. 1941. Reprint, San Antonio, 2013, unpaginated. WPA Michigan. Michigan: A Guide to the Wolverine State. New York, 1941, p. 256. Schoolman, Regina and Charles E. Slatkin. The Enjoyment of Art in America. Philadelphia and New York, 1942, p. 535, pl. 479. Richardson, Edgar Preston, ed. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, p. 77, no. 613. The Child Through Four Centuries: Portraits of Children 17th to 20th Centuries. Exh. cat., Wildenstein and Co. New York, 1945, cat. 5. Caravaggio and the Caraviggisti. Exh. cat., Durlacher Brothers. New York, 1946, cat. 11. A Loan Exhibition of French Painting at the Time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Exh. cat., Wildenstein and Company. New York, 1946, p. 44, no. 19. Howe Jr., Thomas Carr. “Georges de la Tour,” Bulletin of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum 4, no. 5 (September 1946): pp. 35-43, pp. 40, 42 (ill.). Howe, Jr., Thomas Carr. “The Recent Acquisitions: Georges de la Tour,” The Art Quarterly 9, no. 3 (Summer 1946): pp. 263-265, p. 264 [partial re-print of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor text]. Jamot, Paul and Therese Bertin-Mourot. Georges de la Tour, Second ed. Paris, 1948, [cited in postscript], unpaginated, (fig. 21). B.N. “Georges de la Tour,” The Burlington Magazine 90, no. 548 (November 1948): p. 333. “The Arts Commission Annual Report for the Year 1947: Care of the Collections,” Bulletin of the DIA 27, no. 2 (1948): pp. 34-36, p. 35. Pariset, François-Georges. Georges de la Tour. Paris, 1948, pp. 239, 266-267, 411, no. 71, pl. 37, (fig. 1). Furness, S. M. M. Georges de la Tour of Lorraine 1593-1652. London, 1949, p. 86. Blunt, Anthony. “Georges de la Tour,” The Burlington Magazine 92 (May 1950): pp. 144-145, p. 145 [review of Pariset 1948]. Vickers, Elizabeth. “The Iconography of Georges de la Tour,” Marsyas 5 (1950): pp. 105-117, pp. 106–107, 113-114 [113-114 citing the Frick painting]. Jamati, Georges. “La Transposition Dramatique dans L’Oeuvre de Georges de la Tour.” In Chef-d’Oeuvre perdus et retrouvés, Sociéte Poussin. Paris, 1950, p. 22. Busse, Jaques. “La Tour.” In Bénézit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs, vol. 5. Paris, 1952, p. 426. Child's World: An Exhibition for Young People. Exh. cat., John Herron Museum of Art. Indianapolis, 1952, cat. 3. Light and the Painter. Exh. cat., Cranbrook Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1952, no. 6 [cat. compiled by E. I. G.]. Loan Exhibition of XVII-XVIII Century French Masters. Exh. cat., McIntosh Memorial Art Gallery, University of Western Ontario. London, Canada, 1953, (ill.). Pictures of Everyday Life: Genre Painting in Europe 1500-1900. Exh. cat., Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art. Pittsburgh, 1954, no. 24, (ill.) [cat. compiled by G. B. Washburn]. MacDonald, Robert. “Georges de la Tour Out of the Shadows, a Chiaroscurist,” Apollo 62, no. 370 (December 1955): pp. 213-215, p. 215. The Painting of Light. Exh cat., Des Moines Art Center. Des Moines, 1960, cat. 5. Bougier, Annette Marie. Georges de la Tour: peintre du roy. Bruges, 1963, p. 69. Dussaux, C. “Un érudit du XIXe siècle. Charles Friry 1802-1883,” Le Pays Lorrain 46, no. 1 (1966): pp. 12-26, p. 26. Parker, Clifford Stetson. Lectures culturelles françaises. New York, 1966, p. 368. Grandes Maestros, Siglos XV, XVI, XVII y XVIII. Exh cat., Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas. Caracas, Venezuela, 1967, cat. 11 (ill.). The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue, vol. II. New York, 1968, pp. 147-150 [cited under inv. 48.1.155 on p. 150]. Fine Art Reproductions of Old and Modern Masters. New York, 1968, p. 118. Georges de la Tour. Exh. cat., Orangerie. Paris, May 10-September 25, 1972, pp. 196-197, cat. 25 (ill.). Blunt, Anthony. “Georges de La Tour at the Orangerie,” The Burlington Magazine 114, no. 833 (August 1972): pp. 516-525, pp. 520, 524. Parizet, François-Georges. “L'Exposition de Georges de La Tour à l'Orangerie, Paris,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts (October 1972): pp. 207-212, p. 208. Moussalli, Ulysse. A la recherche de Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1972, p. 80. Solesmes, François. Georges de La Tour. Lausanne, 1973, p. 161 (ill.). Cummings, Frederick and James L. Greaves. “Curatorial and Museum Department Reports: Department of European Art; Conservation Services Laboratory,” Bulletin of the DIA 52, no. 1 (1973): pp. 13-42, pp. 15, 42. Winokur, Ronald. “Curatorial and Museum Department Reports: Department of European Art, Reattributions,” Bulletin of the DIA 53, no. 2 (1974): p. 57. Thuillier, Jacques. L’ Opera Completa di Georges de la Tour. Milan, 1973, p. 95, cat. 54 (ill.) [see also 2nd ed. 1985]. Rosenberg, Pierre and François Macé de Lépinay. Georges de la Tour: vie et Oeuvre. Fribourg, 1973, pp. 168-69, cat. 50 (ill.). Nicolson, Benedict and Christopher Wright. Georges de la Tour. London, 1974, pp. 9, 10, 29, 46-47, 50, 157-158, cat. 2, (fig. 101) (ill.). Rosenberg, Pierre and François Macé de Lépinay. Georges de la Tour: Leben und Werk. Berlin, 1974, pp. 162-163, cat. 50 (ill.). Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement. Oxford, 1979, p. 64. Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York, 1982, pp. 75, 354, (fig. 9) (ill.). Bajou, Thierry. De La Tour. Paris, 1985, p. 92, 113 (ill.). Houdidier, François. "Le musée Friry de Remiremont, Son Histoire,” Le Pays Lorrain 70, no. 2 (1989): pp. 65-74, pp. 68-69. Nicolson, Benedict. Caravaggism in Europe, 2nd ed. Turin, 1989, p. 132. Wagner, Monique. From Gaul to De Gaulle: An Outline of French Civilization. New York, 1989, p. xiv, pl. 27 (ill.). Nicolson, Benedict and Vertova, Luisa ed. Caravaggism in Europe, Vol. I. Turin, 1990, pp. 132, 222. Pierre Rosenberg and Marina Mojana. Georges de La Tour: catalogue complet des peintures. Paris, 1992, no. 39 (ill.) [see also Italian language version, published Florence, 1992]. Thuillier, Jacques. Georges de La Tour. Paris, 1993, pp. 203, 210, 216-217, 291-292, no. 57 (ill.) [see also 2nd. ed. 1997]. Reinbold, Ann, ed. "A la lumière des rayons X: Documents d'études." In Georges de La Tour ou les chefs-d'oeuvre révélés, eds. Anne Reinbold et al. Metz, 1993, pp. 128-129, 141, pl. 21-21 (ill.). Wright, Christopher. The Masters of Candlelight, An Anthology of Great Masters including Georges de La Tour Godfried Schalcken, Joseph Wright of Derby. Landschut, 1995, p. 69, no. 39 (ill.). Le Floch, Jean-Claude. Le Signe de contradiction: essai sur Georges de La Tour et son oeuvre. Rennes, 1995, p. 130. Chastel, André. L'Art francais. Ancien Regime 1620-1775. Paris, 1995, p. 139. Choné, Paulette. Georges de La Tour: Un peintre Lorrain au XVIIe siècle. Paris, 1996, p. 153 (ill.). Cuzin, Jean Pierre and Dimitri Salmon. Georges de La Tour: Histoire d'une rédecouverte. Paris, 1997, pp. 54, 91 (ill.). Cuzin, Jean Pierre and Pierre Rosenberg. Georges de La Tour: Paris Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1997 p. 244, cat. 53 (ill.). Fohr, Robert. Georges de La Tour Le Maître des nuits. Paris, 1997, p. 77 (ill.). Musée des beaux-arts d'Orléans. Le Saint Sébastien soigné par Irène de Georges de La Tour. Orléans, 1998, p. 36 [cited under cat. 6].

Georges de La Tour, Young Virgin Mary, ca. 1640, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund, 38.8.