This online scholarly publication examines one of the finest collections of European art ever to have been formed in the United States by a private collector. It is published on the centenary of the remarkable bequest of John G. Johnson (1841–1917)—a distinguished corporate lawyer and adventurous art collector—to the City of Philadelphia. At the time of his death, Johnson had acquired nearly 1,300 paintings, primarily from the fourteenth through nineteenth centuries; more than 150 sculptures, textiles, and other objects; and an art library of approximately 2,500 books, journals, and auction catalogues.
Through interpretive essays and in-depth examinations of more than sixty individual artworks, the publication illustrates some of the fascinating breakthroughs in understanding that have emerged from curators’ and conservators’ work researching and caring for the collection over time. Most significantly, the integration of digitized archival materials throughout the publication represents the first time the museum has made large bodies of primary source material available online, offering researchers new ways to explore the histories of the artworks.