A Renaissance Treasury: The Flagg Collection of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture

The Richard and Erna Flagg collection, given to the Milwaukee Art Museum in 1991, is one of the most important single donations of European decorative arts to an American museum.

The Richard and Erna Flagg collection of European decorative arts and sculpture was formed over sixty years of careful acquisition. It includes unique and historically significant objects drawn from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. These works were selected to emphasis virtuoso displays of craftsmanship, technical innovations, intricate artistry, and precious materials all working together to reflect the culture, religion ans history of the renaissance. These superb masterpieces include clocks, tablewares and vessels, cabinets, larger furniture pieces and intricately tooled metalwork. A Renaissance Treasury is visual opulent and a splendid showcase of celebration cataloging 112 objects, of which 77 are splendidly reproduced with authoritative commentary on their formal, social, religious, and artistic significance. Highly recommended. -- The Bookwatch, June 1999

Winters introduces Richard Flagg and Erma Flagg's collection of some hundred objects made during 1450 to 1900. Most of the beautifully crafted, highly decorative, yet functional pieces are examples of Renaissance and Baroque marvels; they include clocks (a particularly varied and sumptuaous collection), sculpture, inlaid boxes, china and glassware, tankards, metalwork, and furniture. Each of the 77 individual chefs-d'oeuvres documented in this catalog, celebrating the gift of the Flaggs to the Milwaukee Art Museum, are exceptional examples of artisty combined with technical achievement. Such is the case with a 15th-century Cassone from Florence replete with intarsia and coat of arms, signaling a marital alliance between the nobility. Another magnificent piece, highlighted through an individual entry in the catalog, is a 15th-century limestone tympanum, possibly from the Burgundy region of France, showing the enthroned Virgin and Child. The physical properties of this volume are as elaborate as the objects it defines; lavish full-page color plates illustrate the pieces, lengthy catalog entries provide detailed information, and the whole is supplemented with appendixes consisting of checklist and glossary. All levels. -- L. Doumato, National Gallery of Art, Choice, December 1999