Abstract:
The Museum has recently acquired the paintings Girl with Cat; Franzi by Ernest Ludwig Kirchner, German, 1880-1938 and The Martyrdom of St. Januarius by Mattia Preti, Italian, 1613-1699. The German Expressionist Kirchner’s painting is a major one by the artist and depicts an adolescent girl in the nude with a cat. The Italian Baroque painter Preti is considered a masterpiece and depicts Saint Januarius, a bishop of Benevenuto who was martyred around 305 during the persecution by the Roman emperor Diocletian.