Artwork
The Gathering of Manna
The Gathering of Manna is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Francesco Bacchiacca. It dates from 1548 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
In this episode, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness after their flight from Egypt are sustained by miraculous food that falls from heaven.
The painting depicts the Gathering of Manna, a religious subject drawn from the Old Testament book of Exodus. In this episode, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness after their flight from Egypt are sustained by miraculous food that falls from heaven. Bachiacca, a Florentine artist working in the mid-sixteenth century, treats the theme as a religious narrative scene, situating the miraculous provision within a populated landscape of figures gathering the heavenly substance.
The work belongs to the genre of religious art and uses the biblical episode to convey themes of divine sustenance, faith, and God's care for his people during their exodus. As a sixteenth-century Italian devotional image, it would have served both as a meditation on scriptural history and as a visual reminder of miraculous nourishment, themes that resonated with Counter-Reformation religious imagery of the period.
Technique & Style
The Gathering of Manna is executed in oil on a wooden panel, a support typical of early‑sixteenth‑century Italian painting. The painting’s material consists of oil paint applied to a single plank panel, as noted in the work’s technical description;. Its dimensions measure approximately 111.8 cm in height by 95.3 cm in width, reflecting the modest scale often employed for devotional subjects of the period.
The composition follows a balanced arrangement of figures receiving the celestial bread, with a restrained palette and clear modeling characteristic of Francesco Bacchiacca’s mature style. No documented conservation treatments or current condition issues are recorded in the cited provenance sources.
History & Provenance
The Gathering of Manna was painted by Bachiacca (Francesco Bacchiacca) in 1550 in oil on panel. Its earliest recorded owner was the Florentine dealer Stefano Bardini, who possessed the work by 1899. It appeared in the Bardini sale conducted by Christie, Manson & Woods in London on 5 June 1899 (lot 494, bought in), and later in the Bardini sale at the American Art Association in New York on 25 April 1918 (lot 468), where it was purchased by H. L. Kaufman.
The panel then passed through the New York firm Pinakos, Inc. (Rudolf Heinemann), and in 1942 was held on joint account by Frederick Mont, Victor D. Spark, and M. Knoedler & Co. On 6 August 1943 it was sold to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which gave it in 1952 to the National Gallery of Art as part of the Kress Collection.
The Gathering of Manna, an oil on panel painting by Francesco Bacchiacca completed in 1550, is currently housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Its provenance traces from Stefano Bardini in Florence (by 1899) through several dealers, including Bardini’s 1899 Christie, Manson & Woods sale, the 1918 American Art Association auction, and a 1942 joint transaction with Pinakos Inc., Rudolf Heinemann, Frederick Mont, and Victor D. Spark, before its purchase by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1943 and donation to the National Gallery in 1952. The work has been exhibited as part of the museum’s permanent display of Italian Renaissance religious paintings.
Overview
The Gathering of Manna is an oil painting on panel created by Bachiacca in 1548. This religious work illustrates a pivotal biblical event where sustenance miraculously descends from the heavens. The artist captures a moment of collective activity as figures below collect the divine provision, rendered with a distinctive blend of realism and ethereal quality.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi, called Bachiacca (say "bah ki ah cka"). He is also known as Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca (1494–1557). He was an Italian painter of the Renaissance whose work is characteristic of the…
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