that they might all have been part of the Nazi string of thefts, but if that was the case the selections could have been more diverse.

So, maybe they are all in the collection of some notorious historic figure, I don't know.

These are hard!

Uh, I dunno, but my response kicks up your post.

I never thought about the barefoot thing...but that's not the answer...

we're allowed to talk about other stuff? Damn, give me a minute to regroup!

(I'm still working on discerning some connective thread, but having zero luck.)

on edit: #5 is what's putting me on tilt.

ya got three Madonnas, one where it looks perhaps like Mary being congratulated (?), one where it looks like Gabriel telling her, and one with a battle.
The battle is, like, the one that doesn't belong on Sesame Street. I think, anyway...

I love these.

They're all paintings of foreigners, by foreigners! Why do you hate America?

Most of them seem to feature people wearing pink. Which is probably a really dumb guess, but I'm just a schmuck who wanders around art museums going "Sure is pretty" at anything that catches me eye. Or is shiny. Or is pointy. Or has pictures of violence.

HINT: there are 3 centuries represented here...

CTYankee has taken to intentionally not posting paintings by that Dutch guy, just to frustrate me.

#5 has got to be the key to the puzzle, as it has that "one of these things is not like the others" vibe.

that they were all painted in Florence. Or are all in the Uffizi Gallery. It seems like all but one have Mother Mary in them.

They've got some great stuff in there, but I don't think 1 is there.

I really know next to nothing about art. My wife's the one with the degree in art history, but she's not home

Vermeer was a painter in another country and another era in art. He did, I think, maybe one religious painting in the largely Protestant Netherlands, which wasn't taken with saints and glorification of the Virgin Mary.

I think that maybe these are all Renaissance panel paintings?

#5 is the center panel of Paolo Uccello's "The Battle of San Romano" anyway.

not all are Renaissance period, tho...

... in all but #1 and maybe #5 (though if I wish real hard I can see some there.) The Madonna seems to be a common connection other than the battle scene.

I know I have seen several of the Madonna and Child works, but would have to figure out who did them.

Virgin & St. Elizabeth?

Major pressed for time today, but thought I'd drop in for a quick glance anyway!

one hint might be from what appears to be a pope in one of the pictures. Maybe all commission by popes, or anti-popes, or whatever.

If it's not the subject matter and it's not the location and it's not the artist or period, then it has to be something external to the paintings themselves. Lost or stolen? You said they weren't stolen. Lost perhaps? or lost for a long time and then recovered? I'm just throwing spaghetti against the wall!

But of course I have never even come close to a right answer.

old master works of art...

That's not always the case.

most contain depictions of Mary Madonna.

3. The Annunciation by Andrea Del Sarto
4. Madonna del Baldacchino by Raphael
5. The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello
6. Rucellai Madonna by Duccio di Buoninsegna

I believe all these masterpieces have a connection to Florence, Italy, in terms of either the artist or in terms of the battle scene in artwork #5.

addiction to art history research in my retirement...I never knew there was so much to find and was delighted to learn all the stuff learned by going to the library and pulling art books off the shelf, sitting down and reading. A later in life discovery!

Maybe????

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And I'm guessing that the connection is that these paintings were among the more than 200 that were moved from Florence and hidden at Montegufoni Castle during WW II.

I looked up some links on the paintings kept at the castle, and they fit.

on these treasures.

Moving art is always delicate. Art is safest when it is kept in a museum. Unless great care is taken, artworks can be greatly damaged in transit. Under wartime conditions, it was nearly impossible.

The story of its discovery is recounted in Robert Edsel's book, Saving Italy, and in other books. Australian/British officers, billeting their men in Monegufoni as they were pushing through Italy, noticed a great number of paintings, out of their frames, leaned up against the walls of the castles, painted side out. At first they thought they were just very good copies, but soon it became apparent they were the originals. Finding Primavera was the giveaway. The officers quickly notified the Monument Men, a unit of the Allied army whose mission it was to save and protect art all throughout the war zones of WW2. Montegufoni was immediately placed under armed protection. However, other repositories were not so fortunate and were plundered by the German army.

They are all artworks that were hidden in a castle in Montegufoni in Tuscany to keep them safe from wartime bombings of WW2. Most, but not all, had resided in the Uffizi in Florence. The major force behind this effort was Giovanni Poggi, superintendent of Galleries of Florence, Arezzo and Pistoia. Some 38 such repositories were used, primarily in Tuscany ( the artworks from the Veneto were sent to the Vatican for safekeeping). The so-called “Monuments Men,” primarily made up of art professors and historians in the U.S. (several from Yale) and U.K., served in the Allied forces to preserve and protect Italy’s art patrimony once the invasion of Italy was begun, from 1943 to the end of the war (known as the Italian Campaign). Here is a review of a newly published account of of this effort: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323744604578474901096756108.html

The art works that were too big to move or frescoes were protected in situ. Scaffolding was placed around the David at the Accademia and cushioned with thick padding. Then the entire statue was entombed in brick.

I have just finished reading "Saving Italy" by Robert Edsel, who also wrote "The Monument Men" and "Saving DaVinci." This is the 4th book on the MM that I have read, so it is something of a hobby of mine!

"The Monument Men" is now being made into a movie directed by and starring George Clooney, also featuring Matt Damon and Kate Blanchett. It will be released in December. I'm really looking forward to it.

The works in Montegufoni were largely unharmed (there was some minor damage to Pontormo's Visitation, shown here). And they were never stolen. So I guess I "gave away" the answer in my early response to the query that they were stolen by the Nazis! Unfortunately, other repositories were not so lucky. Once the Germans found out about them, the ransacking began (they called it "protecting" at first because Italy was an ally, but soon just hauled away what they wanted). The two Cranachs, Adam and Eve, owned by the Uffizi, were taken earlier from another castle as a special gift to the Fuehrer, since the Germans valued the art of Germany and the North over Italian art.

I didn't included La Primavera in the Challenge because I could see that on that painting's Wikipedia page, its removal to Montegufoni is noted. I knew that once I gave that hint, folks would have their answer!

Interestingly, the works were primarily moved by the Italians themselves to keep them from bombing damage by the Allies after the invasion of Italy. The Monument Men provided bombadiers with maps marked with locations of art work or architecture that should be avoided if at all possible. In Florence, that effort was spectacularly successful. However, the saddest part of the book is the account of the Germans blowing up every bridge in Florence except the Ponte Vecchio as they were retreating from the Allies. By order of Hitler himself, the Ponte Vecchio was spared. But the far greater architectural treasure, Santa Trinita (designed by Michelangelo), was reduced to rubble.

There is a considerable amount of this book devoted to the bombing that nearly destroyed Leonardo's Last Supper in Milan but it suffered greatly from bombs dropped next to the church where it resides. The MM tried heroically to restore what they could. However, this fresco was doomed from the moment Leonardo started it, since he experimented with paints and with painting it on dry wall, not wet, as true frescoes are done. It began to flake quite early on and is in very bad shape today.

After finding the Botticelli on a site showing Uffizi works, I did check the wiki page for more background--which led me to search further on art hidden during the war. When I found the article below--which also names the Giotto and the Uccello--that looked like it was the right connection.

With your interest in the rescue and the Monument Men, You'll probably enjoy this article as well...

The examples I have shown in my post were straight out of Edsel's "Saving Italy." Both books are fabulous. However, Edsel tends to get bogged down in too much detail about the military campaigns, which Brey doesn't do. Edsel does shed light on what role Allen Dulles played in WW2. It is a whole story on its own and it is fascinating.

You might also be intrigued by Edsel's account of the story of Monte Cassino, which as you know was mistakenly thought by the Allies to be taken over by the German Army and bombed to rubble. Fortunately, the magnificent art in the abbey had been wisely removed by Supt. Poggi and taken to a safe hiding place. Poggi and other Italians knew that the Allies would bomb the abbey and were taking no chances with the art in it.

The Clooney movie seems to be more focused on the art snatched by the Germans north of Italy. Hitler had big plans for his own museum of the fatherland in Linz. Goering drew up guidelines for their preferences, which were prioritized by school/era of art. The Mona Lisa almost got snatched several times and was moved around France to keep it away from the German army. A lot of the looted art was placed in salt mines in Austria to protect it from Allied bombings. When all was lost and Hitler knew he and the Third Reich were doomed, he ordered the salt mines blown up by his retreating army. But the commanding officer simply couldn't carry out Hitler's order. The very idea of how close we came to losing the greatest art of western civilization is breathtaking. Works as huge as the Ghent Altarpiece were there!

I hope others here reading this Challenge will investigate Edsel and Brey's books and see the movie. Anybody who loves history, particularly WW2 history, will find this story riveting.

That's the track (pun intended) I was on yesterday. Not because I'm any great art historian, but because one of my favorite movies of all time is The Train.

And I'm eager to see how Clooney treats this story. I admire him a lot...

I first saw The Train when it was shown on TV, and there was just something about it that really impressed me. I always wanted to see it again, but never did until a friend happened to pick up a DVD at a yard sale a couple years ago. He lent it to me and I think I watched it three times in two days.

One of the beautiful subtleties of the film was that, because it was black & white, the artworks themselves really didn't play a part. This was about the people and how they felt about the art and what they would do to save it. I suspect that had it been done today and in color, the emotional impact might have been lost by putting the emphasis on the art. (The only thing that could be worse would be to make it all about the special effects.)

Did you see "Girl with Pearl Earring" when it came out? What I loved about that movie was the way the director and cinematographer so wonderfully recreated the weather and the town of Delft look like what Vermeer would have experienced. When I was on another art intensive in the Netherlands, I was on a little barge going into the towns and cities where the great Dutch artists painted. On the barge you could actually see the sky and the clouds and the light that those artists had seen and painted in all those wonderful landscapes. And we saw Delft much as Vermeer must have when he was in the same spot, probably also on a barge and then painted his masterpiece...it is possibly one of the most extraordinary works I have ever seen in person.

into Google. Voila, up it comes! That is really what I ask folks not to do. However, just using Google for researching some of your ideas is OK, even encouraged.

See, my purpose here is to get people talking/sharing about art. The Challenge part is just a way to make it fun and get people's interest. People share their stories about a particular work that they have always loved. Some here really like doing searches and finding out more. I cannot tell you how often I have encountered DUers who tell me they LOVED their art history 101 course in college that they took as an elective and how they've never forgotten it.

Art is so meaningful in my life and is my passion in retirement. I hope others find that, too.

.. because at first I thought Botticelli was the link, maybe a workshop or master-apprentice thing. Then I came across the Uccello and thought they looked like panels. Now I just don't know, but I do know the answer will be very interesting and wonderful!

I remember spending quite a while being mesmerized by it when I was in Florence almost 30 years ago. Pictures don't do justice.

He deserved the rack.

keep Florence a holy republic and not fall completely in the hands of the super rich families such as the Medicis. I like the republic part but not the religious fanaticism. Botticelli fell under his sway for a time and even threw some of his works in the bonfires. But he had a real mystical side to him, as evidenced by his mystical nativity.

I did quite a bit of research on the early Italian Renaissance prior to going on an art intensive study to Florence in 2010. By then I had found out about some of the hidden treasures that most tourists never see. It was pretty exhausting!

destroying all those beautiful works of art is unforgivable.

Do you teach art history?

Art history is my passion in retirement. I travel pretty much in order to see artworks and architecture. I love doing research, too, and I do a lot of it. I am fortunate to live in a pretty art rich town, New Haven, and within a train ride to Manhattan. Plus, I have wanderlust, just like my mother did. Been to Italy 4 times and planning my 5th next year, to travel to the towns where the artwork of Piero della Francesca resides.

Of course, Savonarola's destruction of art was unforgivable. He was a fanatic and a lunatic. But he sure had the Medicis pegged...yet, you can make an argument for them, too...and the other super rich who were patrons of the great Renaissance masters. I guess you don't get to pick your poison.

how long it took to get my first masters degree was fresh enough in my memory to make me get real, LOL...

Let me know if you need someone to carry your luggage!




(All kidding aside, I was in my mid forties before I figured out I could ignore the negative messages from my childhood, and just *MAKE* art. I have a mixed media studio in my home and am primarily working as a metalsmith. I LOVE it!)

the chance to get a travel roommate! I must say that the group is wonderful, really great people to travel with and interact with.

I wish I could "DO" art as you do. It would be such a thrill and satisfaction for me. Alas, I am not an artist. I am just an appreciator, so I am humbled before the actual creators of art!

Are those the Three Graces on the left? And are those also the Three Graces in painting #1??

Does this have anything to do with the question?

works. Two women are noticeably pregnant, Mary with Jesus and Elizabeth with John the Baptist.

Pinboy got the answer above...

... even though I had no clue as to the connection.

I was happy just to have remebered having seen most of the works (in books and videos, not real life), though I can't always remember who did what.

Quite a story...

Thank you.