Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene, the 1625 masterwork of Dutch painter Hendrick ter Brugghen and one of the signature works of the AMAM’s collection, will be the focal point of a small installation at the National Gallery of Art celebrating two of the artist’s most luminous compositions. The painting will hang near the gallery’s magnificent Bagpipe Player by Ter Brugghen, of 1624. Although of different genres – one a multi-figured religious work, and one a single figure in the act of playing an instrument associated at the time with the lower class – the two paintings reveal the same fluidity of brush, harmonious coloration, and elegant composition for which the artist is celebrated.

Bagpipe Player is a recent acquisition of The National Gallery of Art, having been purchased in 2009. Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene was acquired by the AMAM in 1953 under the leadership of Charles Parkhurst, who served as AMAM director from 1949-62, with the advice of distinguished art history professor Wolfgang Stechow. Parkhurst was assistant director and chief curator at the National Gallery of Art from 1970 to 1983, and this showing there of what is arguably his greatest acquisition celebrates his career and legacy.

This exhibition was co-organized by the National Gallery of Art and the Allen Memorial Art Museum. The exhibition is made possible at the National Gallery of Art by the generous support of Michael A. Glass.