In 1871 Yale College purchased more than 100 paintings from the Massachusetts collector James Jackson Jarves, making the Yale University Art Gallery the first major repository of early Italian painting in America. Since then, the collection has been central to the life and learning of the University. The character of the works inspired the Ruskinian Gothic style of the Gallery’s 1860s building, Street Hall, and by the 1920s, the University’s art school—now world famous—was basing its instruction in painting on the example of these works. The paintings continue to awe and inspire. This small catalogue brings together illustrations and informative texts on a selection of works from this collection—including objects by Taddeo Gaddi, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, and others. The introduction by Clay Dean traces the history of Yale’s collection, from the 1871 purchase to the Gallery’s partnership with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, to conserve this important body of work.