Floor plan

The RotundaThe Rotunda, room 2

The Rotunda, room 2

Nun’s Badge with the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, by Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez, ca. 1710
In this painting, there are two women standing near a body of water, surrounded by tall green grass and white flowers. One woman wears a bright pink dress, while the other wears a brown dress with a white apron. The woman in pink holds a long, thin rod outwards, its other end connected to a thin string and a small red lure floating on the water. The other woman stands behind her and holds a baby wearing white clothes and a white bonnet. Behind both women, on the right, is a brown shape like a small dog running towards them. The reflection of the women is visible against the still, blue water. The sky is light blue at the top, transitioning to a warm pink by the horizon, crossed by purple clouds and a flock of small birds. In the bottom right corner, across the water from the women, is a patch of more tall blue-and-green grass. The brushstrokes of the painting are light and feathery.
A nude woman, pudgy child, and two satyrs, which have men’s heads and torsos with goat’s legs and horns, are in a landscape in this octagonal painting. The scene is divided in half by a tree stump which only reaches to the center of the composition. To the left of the stump, the pale-skinned, nude child stands and hunches over to draw on the ground with a V-shaped compass. Two pieces of paper and a violin lie nearby. The landscape behind him has a body of water leading back to a town with buildings streaked with peach, perhaps flames. A band of peach sky separates the blue silhouettes of mountains lining the horizon from the vivid blue sky above. At the bottom center of the painting, a shield with an oval horizontally striped with red and white leans on the boy’s side of the tree, which has one leafy branch growing on the left side. One satyr holds a jug and kneels close to the tree with his back to it as he looks back over one shoulder. He and the other satyr both have dark, peach-toned skin and full beards. The second satyr hovers to the right of the nude, sleeping woman, both hands reaching for her or the rose-pink cloth surrounding her. The woman has blond curls, a round face, and she sleeps with one hand resting across her belly and her head tipped to our left. The trio are on a grassy area enclosed by dense, dark-green bushes and trees.
St. Catherine of Siena and the Beggar, by Giovanni di Paolo, 1460s

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

The entrance hall. Its bays hold the works that show each museum at its fullest: large paintings first, a few from each collection, rehung every day.

Bay 1

  1. Nun’s Badge with the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, by Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez, ca. 1710
    Nun’s Badge with the Virgin of the Immaculate ConceptionNicolás Rodríguez Juárez, ca. 1710Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. In this painting, there are two women standing near a body of water, surrounded by tall green grass and white flowers. One woman wears a bright pink dress, while the other wears a brown dress with a white apron. The woman in pink holds a long, thin rod outwards, its other end connected to a thin string and a small red lure floating on the water. The other woman stands behind her and holds a baby wearing white clothes and a white bonnet. Behind both women, on the right, is a brown shape like a small dog running towards them. The reflection of the women is visible against the still, blue water. The sky is light blue at the top, transitioning to a warm pink by the horizon, crossed by purple clouds and a flock of small birds. In the bottom right corner, across the water from the women, is a patch of more tall blue-and-green grass. The brushstrokes of the painting are light and feathery.
    The Artist's Wife FishingJean Louis Forain, 1896Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Bay 2

  1. A nude woman, pudgy child, and two satyrs, which have men’s heads and torsos with goat’s legs and horns, are in a landscape in this octagonal painting. The scene is divided in half by a tree stump which only reaches to the center of the composition. To the left of the stump, the pale-skinned, nude child stands and hunches over to draw on the ground with a V-shaped compass. Two pieces of paper and a violin lie nearby. The landscape behind him has a body of water leading back to a town with buildings streaked with peach, perhaps flames. A band of peach sky separates the blue silhouettes of mountains lining the horizon from the vivid blue sky above. At the bottom center of the painting, a shield with an oval horizontally striped with red and white leans on the boy’s side of the tree, which has one leafy branch growing on the left side. One satyr holds a jug and kneels close to the tree with his back to it as he looks back over one shoulder. He and the other satyr both have dark, peach-toned skin and full beards. The second satyr hovers to the right of the nude, sleeping woman, both hands reaching for her or the rose-pink cloth surrounding her. The woman has blond curls, a round face, and she sleeps with one hand resting across her belly and her head tipped to our left. The trio are on a grassy area enclosed by dense, dark-green bushes and trees.
    AllegoryPietro degli Ingannati, c. 1515-1525Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. St. Catherine of Siena and the Beggar, by Giovanni di Paolo, 1460s
    St. Catherine of Siena and the BeggarGiovanni di Paolo, 1460sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Bay 3

  1. The Adoration of the Magi, by Giotto di Bondone, possibly ca. 1320
    The Adoration of the MagiGiotto di Bondone, possibly ca. 1320Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Bright light from the upper left illuminates two muscular men and a winged angel against a dim landscape in this square painting. They all have pale skin, and the two men have dark brown hair and beards. One man, Jesus, stands ankle-deep in a rippling dark blue stream in the center of the composition facing us with downcast eyes. He is nude except for a white cloth that drapes over one shoulder and is tied around his hips. The other end of the cloth drops into the water. Jesus’s hands are pressed together in prayer at chest-height closer to his right shoulder, to our left. He leans his torso in the other direction and looks down at the water. The second man stands on the riverbank to our right. His body faces our left but his left shoulder, closer to us, dips down so his broad back is angled toward us. His lower body is wrapped in a cobalt-blue garment bordered with what looks like sheepskin. His near hand swings back to clutch the trunk of a tree growing immediately behind him. In his other hand, he holds up a pewter-grey dish that dribbles water onto Jesus’s head. On the left riverbank, the copper-haired angel looks on, facing our right in profile but the body faces us. The angel wears a sleeveless, pumpkin-orange robe with a shimmering salmon-pink mantle draped over the right shoulder, to our left. Petal-pink and dark grey wings extend from the shoulders, and the lower legs and feet are bare. The shadowy landscape has a dark green field stretching back to jagged, sapphire-blue mountains along the horizon, which comes four-fifths of the way up this composition. Pale blue clouds skim across the vivid blue sky, where three chubby, winged babies float. One holds a triangle and a rod with which to strike it, and another might hold a rectangular musical instrument. Blue clouds split nearby to show a sliver of golden yellow light, and possibly more angels.
    The Baptism of ChristParis Bordone, c. 1535/1540Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Bay 4

  1. A work made of oil on panel.
    The Shadow of DeathWilliam Holman Hunt, 1873-74Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)
    A horse and riderLi Gonglin, 16th century?Courtesy of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution