Dillian Rosalind Gordon OBE is a British art historian who worked as a curator at the
National Gallery, London from 1978 to 2010, latterly as Curator of Italian Paintings before 1460.[1] She lives in
Oxford.[2] She was appointed
OBE in 2011 for services to Early Italian Painting.[3] She has authored and co-authored many books, including several National Gallery catalogues.
Education
Dillian Gordon studied Modern and Medieval Languages at
Girton College, Cambridge.[4] She then attended the
Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, where she completed her MA in 1972, with a dissertation on 'The gilded glass Madonna in the
Fitzwilliam, Cambridge',[5] followed by a PhD in 1979, 'Art in
Umbria c.1250-c.1350',[6] also at the Courtauld.[4] Photographs taken by Gordon while a student are held in the Conway Library at the Courtauld, and are currently (2020) being digitised.[7]
Professional work
Gordon worked at the
National Gallery, London, as a curator of early Italian paintings from 1978 until 2010, latterly as Curator of Italian Paintings before 1460.[1]Nicholas Penny, Director, states that Gordon was the first woman to work as a curator at the National Gallery.[8] He mentions some important acquisitions that she was able to arrange, as well as her valued work on exhibitions, and praises her for her meticulous cataloguing of the collection's Early Italian art. She retired from the National Gallery in 2010, but continues to research and write about 13th and 14th century Italian painting.[4]
A highlight of Gordon's curatorial career came in 2000, when she was asked by
Sotheby's to assess a painting of a Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels, discovered at
Benacre Hall,
Suffolk. This prompted a special visit to the
Frick Collection in New York, where Gordon and others were able to compare the painting with a similar one acquired by them in 1950, the Flagellation, and the Madonna and Child was identified as coming from the same six-panel diptych, part of an altarpiece, by the 13th century Florentine artist,
Cimabue. The panel, dated circa 1280, was subsequently acquired by the National Gallery.[9] Dr Gordon returned to the Frick in 2006 to give a lecture on the subject, when the Madonna and Child was shown alongside the Flagellation in a special exhibition, Cimabue and Early Italian Devotional Painting.[10][11] Prior to this, in 2003, a further Cimabue panel had been discovered in France, entitled The Mocking of Christ, and Dr Gordon was again asked for her opinion: the panel was dated circa 1280 and considered to be from the same altarpiece as the Madonna and Child and the Flagellation.[12]
In 2006 her opinion was sought on a different artist, when two small paintings were discovered hanging in a modest terraced house in Oxford. They were identified as being by the 15th century Florentine artist
Fra Angelico, and thought to be from a panel of eight saints, originally part of an
altarpiece from the monastery of
San Marco in Florence, dated circa 1440, commissioned by
Cosimo de' Medici the Elder.[13] The two paintings sold at auction for £1.7m in April 2007.[14]
Second sight.
Rubens: 'The Watering Place',
Gainsborough: 'The Watering Place' , National Gallery exhibition catalogue, 18 February-20 April 1981, 1981.[16]
The National Gallery lends paintings of the warm south by foreign painters in Italy in 17th century: an exhibition organised in conjunction with the
Arts Council of Great Britain, London: National Gallery, 1982.[17]
Early Italian paintings and works of art, 1300-1480: in aid of the Friends of the
Fitzwilliam Museum in association with Stair Sainty Matthiesen, London : Matthiesen Fine Art, 1983.[18]
Edgar Degas: Hélène Rouart in her father's study, London: National Gallery (exhibition booklet), 1984.[19]
British paintings, London: National Gallery, 1986.[20]
The
Wilton Diptych, London: National Gallery, 2001.[21] This book was published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, taking place from 15 September to 12 December 1993.
The Italian Paintings, 1400-1460, London: National Gallery, 2001.[22]
The fifteenth century Italian paintings. Vol. 1, London: National Gallery, 2003.[23]
The Italian Paintings Before 1400, London: National Gallery, 2011.[24]
Co-authored works
Dillian Gordon and Anthony Reeve, 'Three Newly-Acquired Panels from the Altarpiece for
Santa Croce by
Ugolino di Nerio', Technical Bulletin 8, London: National Gallery, 1984.[25]
Dillian Gordon, David Bomford, Joyce Plesters and Ashok Roy, '
Nardo di Cione's Altarpiece: Three Saints', Technical Bulletin 9, London: National Gallery, 1985.[26]
Martin Davies and Dillian Gordon, The Early Italian schools: before 1400, London: National Gallery, 1988.[27]
Anthea Callen, Dillian Gordon and Richard Kendall, Degas, images of women, London: Tate Gallery, 1989.[28]
David Bomford, Jill Dunkerton, Dillian Gordon, Ashok Roy and Jo Kirby, Italian painting before 1400, London: National Gallery, 1989.[29]
Jill Dunkerton, Susan Foster, Dillian Gordon and Nicholas Penny, Giotto to
Dürer:
Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven: Yale University Press, London: National Gallery, 1991.[30]
Dillian Gordon, Lisa Monnas and Caroline Elam, The regal image of
Richard II and the Wilton Diptych, London: Harvey Miller, 1997.[31]
Paul Ackroyd, Larry Keith and Dillian Gordon, 'The Restoration of
Lorenzo Monaco's Coronation of the Virgin: Retouching and Display', Technical Bulletin 21, London: National Gallery, 2000.[32]
Luke Syson and Dillian Gordon, Pisanello: Painter to the Renaissance Court, London: National Gallery, 2001.[33]
Dillian Gordon and Martin Davies, The Italian schools before 1400, London: National Gallery, 2001.[35]
Dillian Gordon, Martin Wyld and Ashok Roy, '
Fra Angelico's Predella for the High Altarpiece of
San Domenico, Fiesole', Technical Bulletin 23, London: National Gallery, 2002.[36]
Rachel Billinge and Dillian Gordon, 'The Use of Gilded Tin in
Giotto's Pentecost', Technical Bulletin 29, London: National Gallery, 2008.[37]
Britta New, Helen Howard, Rachel Billinge, Hayley Tomlinson, David Peggie and Dillian Gordon, '
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's Baptism Altarpiece: Technique, Conservation and Original Design', Technical Bulletin 33, London: National Gallery, 2012.[38]
Dillian Gordon, Caroline M Barron, Ashok Roy, Rachel Billinge and Martin Wyld, The Wilton Diptych, London: National Gallery, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.[39]
Articles
'A Sienese
verre eglomisé and its setting', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 123, pp. 148–153, 1981.[40]
'A Perugian provenance for the Franciscan double-sided altar-piece by the
Maestro di S. Francesco', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 124, pp. 70–77, 1982.[41]
'The vision of the blessed
Clare of Rimini', Apollo, Vol. 124, pp. 150–153, 1986.[42]
'A
dossal by
Giotto and his workshop: some problems of attribution, provenance and patronage', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 131, 1989.[43]
'
Simone Martini's altar-piece for S. Agostino, San Gimignano', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 133, p. 771, 1991.[44]
'Perugian fourteenth-century manuscript illumination: Vannes di Baldolo and his associates', Apollo, Vol. 134, pp. 327–332, 1991.[45]
'A New Discovery in the Wilton Diptych', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 134, pp. 662–667, 1992.[46]
'The reconstruction of
Sassetta's altar-piece for S. Francesco,
Borgo San Sepolcro: a postscript', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 135, pp. 620–623, 1993.[47]
'The mass production of Franciscan piety: another look at some Umbrian "verres eglomisés", Apollo, Vol. 140, pp. 33–42, 1994.[48]
'A new document for the high altarpiece for
S. Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence' (with Anabel Thomas), Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 137, pp. 720–722, 1995.[49]
'The altar-piece by
Lorenzo Monaco in the National Gallery, London', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 137, pp. 723–727, 1995.[50]
'The art of devotion', Apollo, Vol. 141, pp. 59–60, 1995.[51]
'Renaissance painting and illumination at the Metropolitan', Apollo, Vol. 140, pp. 50–51, 1995.[52]
'The "missing" predella panel from
Pesellino's trinity altar-piece', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 138, pp. 87–88, 1996.[53]
'The so-called
Paciano Master and the Franciscans in
Perugia', Apollo, Vol. 143, pp. 33–39, 1996.[54]
'
Zanobi Strozzi's Annunciation in the National Gallery', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 140, pp. 517–524, 1998.[55]
'The Virgin and Child by
Cimabue at the National Gallery', Apollo, Vol. 157, pp. 32–36, 2003.[56]
'
Duccio's adjustment to The Temptation of Christ on the mountain from his Maestà', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 151, pp. 19–21, 2009.[57]
'
Andrea di Bonaiuto's painting in the National Gallery and
S. Maria Novella: the memory of a church', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 151, pp. 512–518, 2009.[57]
'Two newly identified panels from
Mariotto di Nardo's altarpiece for the
Da Filicaia chapel in S. Maria degli Angeli, Florence', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 155, pp. 25–28, 2013.[58]
'A possible French source for the left wing of the Wilton diptych', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 157, pp. 821–826, 2015.[59]
'
Bicci di Lorenzo's altarpiece for the Compagni family chapel in
S. Trinita, Florence', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 161, pp. 36–43, 2019.[60]
'The Nobili altarpiece from S. Maria degli Angeli, Florence', Burlington Magazine, ed. Benedict Nicolson, Vol. 162, pp. 14–25, 2020.[61]
^Gordon, Dillian (1972). The gilded glass Madonna in the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge (Thesis).
OCLC272494232.
^Gordon, Dillian Rosalind (1979). Art in Umbria c. 1250 - c. 1350 (Thesis). University of London.
OCLC59645624.
^Fornasier, Faye (30 June 2020).
"Who made the Conway Library?". Courtauld Digital Media.
Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
^National Gallery (Great Britain); Gordon, Dillian (1981). 100 Great paintings, Duccio to Picasso: European paintings from the 14th to the 20th Century. London: Sponsored by Coutts & Co. and published by order of the Trustees Publications Dept., National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-901791-75-7.
OCLC10021833.
^National Gallery (Great Britain); Gordon, Dillian (1981). Second sight. [catalogue of] a National Gallery exhibition, 18 February-20 April 1981. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-901791-73-3.
OCLC1043324402.
^Gordon, Dillian; National Gallery (Great Britain); Arts Council of Great Britain (1982). The National Gallery lends paintings of the warm south by foreign painters in Italy in 17th century: an exhibition organised in conjunction with the Arts Council of Great Britain. London: Publications Dept., National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-901791-81-8.
OCLC778869041.
^Gordon, Dillian; Fitzwilliam Museum; Stair Sainty Matthiesen (Gallery); Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd (1983). Early Italian paintings and works of art, 1300-1480: in aid of the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum in association with Stair Sainty Matthiesen, New York. London: Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd.
OCLC11427146.
^Gordon, Dillian; National Gallery (Great Britain) (1984). Edgar Degas: Hél ene Rouart in her father's study. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-901791-92-4.
OCLC605994230.
^Gordon, Dillian; National Gallery, London (1986). British paintings. London: National Gallery Publications.
OCLC484068406.
^Gordon, Dillian; Wilton Diptych (2001). The Wilton Diptych: [publ. to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, 15 September - 12 December 1993. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-1-85709-036-9.
OCLC255162721.
^Gordon, Dillian; National Gallery (2003). The fifteenth century Italian paintings. Vol. 1 Vol. 1. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-1-85709-293-6.
OCLC834142055.
^Gordon, Dillian; Reeve, Anthony (1984). "Three newly-acquired panels from the altarpiece for Santa Croce by Ugolino di Nerio". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 36–52.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC887301882.
^Gordon, Dillian (1985). "Nardo di Cione's 'altarpiece: three Saints'". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 21–35.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC887387898.
^National Gallery (Great Britain); Davies, Martin; Gordon, Dillian (1988). The Early Italian schools before 1400. London: National Gallery Publications.
ISBN978-0-947645-21-2.
OCLC1166938361.
^Bomford, David; Dunkerton, Jill; Gordon, Dillian; Roy, Ashok; Kirby, Jo (1989). Italian painting before 1400. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-947645-67-0.
OCLC848887453.
^Dunkerton, Jill; Foister, Susan; Gordon, Dillian; Penny, Nicholas (1991). Giotto to Dürer: Early renaissance painting in the National Gallery. New Haven; London: Yale University Press : National Gallery.
ISBN978-0-300-05082-0.
OCLC450089203.
^Gordon, Dillian; Monnas, Lisa; Elam, Caroline (1998). The regal image of Richard II and the Wilton Diptych. London: Harvey Miller.
ISBN978-1-872501-72-7.
OCLC1001071389.
^Ackroyd, Paul; Gordon, Dillian; Keith, Larry (2000). "The restoration of Lorenzo Monaco's "Coronation of the Virgin": retouching and display". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 43–57.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC887192328.
^Syson, Luke; Gordon, Dillian; Pisanello (2001). Pisanello: painter to the Renaissance court. London: National Gallery Company.
ISBN978-1-85709-932-4.
OCLC881803847.
^Roy, Ashok; Gordon, Dillian (2001). "Uccello's "Battle of San Romano."". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 4–17.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC887192331.
^National Gallery (Great Britain); Gordon, Dillian; Davies, Martin (2001). The Italian schools before 1400. London: National Gallery.
ISBN978-1-85709-918-8.
OCLC1113431776.
^Gordon, Dillian; Roy, Ashok; Wyld, Martin (2002). "Fra Angelico's predella for the high altarpiece of San Domenico, Fiesole". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 4–19.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC887192447.
^Billinge, Rachel; Gordon, Dillian (2008). "The use of gilded tin in Giotto's "Pentecost."". National Gallery Technical Bulletin / Publ. By Order of the Trustees, Publications Department, National Gallery, London.: 76–80.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC886804704.
^New, Britta; Howard, Helen Catherine; Billinge, Rachel; Tomlinson, Hayley; Peggie, David; Gordon, Dillian (2012). "Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's Baptism altarpiece: technique, conservation and original design". National Gallery Technical Bulletin. 33: 27–49.
ISSN0140-7430.
OCLC821183655.
^Gordon, Dillian; Barron, Caroline M; Roy, Ashok; Billinge, Rachel; Wyld, Martin; National Gallery (Gran Bretagna) (2015). The Wilton diptych. London; [New Haven, CT: National Gallery Company ; Distributed by Yale University Press.
ISBN978-1-85709-583-8.
OCLC957010115.
^Gordon, Dillian (1981). "A Sienese verre eglomisé and its setting". Burlington Magazine: 148–153.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC888325251.
^Gordon, Dillian (1982). "A Perugian provenance for the Franciscan double-sided altar-piece by the Maestro di S. Francesco". Burlington Magazine: 70–77.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC888325311.
^Gordon, Dillian (1986). "The vision of the blessed Clare of Rimini". Apollo: 150–153.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC887311110.
^Gordon, Dillian (1989). A dossal by Giotto and his workshop: some problems of attribution, provenance and patronage. London: Burlington Mag.
OCLC614892838.
^Gordon, Dillian (1991). "Simone Martini's altar-piece for S. Agostino, San Gimignano". Burlington Magazine.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC887288652.
^Gordon, Dillian (1991). "Perugian fourteenth-century manuscript illumination: Vannes di Baldolo and his associates". Apollo: 327–332.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC886858821.
^Gordon, Dillian (1992). "A New Discovery in the Wilton Diptych". Burlmaga the Burlington Magazine. 134 (1075): 662–667.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC5548462195.
^Gordon, Dillian (1993). "The reconstruction of Sassetta's altar-piece for S. Francesco, Borgo San Sepolcro: a postscript". Burlington Magazine: 620–623.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC887285171.
^Gordon, Dillian (1994). "The mass production of franciscan piety: another look at some umbrian "verres eglomisés."". Apollo: 33–42.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC887061702.
^Gordon, Dillian; Thomas, Anabel (1995). "A new document for the high altarpiece for S. Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence". Burlington Magazine: 720–722.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC887378937.
^Gordon, Dillian (1995). "The altar-piece by Lorenzo Monaco in the National Gallery, London". Burlington Magazine: 723–727.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC887378900.
^Gordon, Dillian (1995). "Renaissance painting and illumination at the Metropolitan". Apollo: 50–51.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC887110975.
^Gordon, Dillian (1996). "The "missing" predella panel from Pesellino's trinity altar-piece". Burlington Magazine. 138 (1115): 87–88.
OCLC908531975.
^Gordon, Dillian (1996). "The so-called Paciano Master and the Franciscans in Perugia". Apollo: 33–39.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC887055281.
^Gordon, Dillian (1998). "Zanobi Strozzi's 'Annunciation' in the National Gallery". Burlington Magazine: 517–524.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC887090692.
^Gordon, Dillian; Cimabue (2003). "The Virgin and Child by Cimabue at the National Gallery". Apollo. 157 (496): 32–36.
ISSN0003-6536.
OCLC450046542.
^
abGordon, Dillian (2009). "Andrea di Bonaiuto's painting in the National Gallery and S. Maria Novella: the memory of a church". Burlington Magazine. 151 (1277): 512–518.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC781142397.
^Gordon, Dillian (2013). "Two newly identified panels from Mariotto di Nardo's altarpiece for the Da Filicaia chapel in S. Maria degli Angeli, Florence". Burlington Magazine: 25–28.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC888870012.
^Gordon, Dillian (2015). "A possible French source for the left wing of the Wilton diptych". The Burlington Magazine. 157: 821.
OCLC1113101202.
^Gordon, Dillian (2019). "Bicci di Lorenzo's altarpiece for the Compagni family chapel in S. Trinita, Florence". The Burlington Magazine: 36–43.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC1102421243.
^Gordon, Dillian (2020). "The Nobili altarpiece from S. Maria degli Angeli, Florence". The Burlington Magazine: 14–25.
ISSN0007-6287.
OCLC1153996391.