Thursday, February 11, 2016

BARBERINI PALACE - NATIONAL ART GALLERY (eighteenth part)

Room XXIII - Caravaggisti

“Christ drives out the merchants from the temple” about 1618, “Judgment of Solomon” about 1620 and “Last Supper” about 1625 by Jean Valentin aka Valentin de Boulogne (about 1591/1632)
“Having settled soon in Rome (where, however, he is only documented from 1620) he was in contact with French and Nordic artists and looked upon the work of Bartolomeo Manfredi. His activity is well documented from 1627, when he began working for Cardinal Francesco Barberini, his protector and patron. Careful interpreter of Caravaggio's lesson, he painted scenes of tavern, concerts and historical and religious paintings, characterized by psychological research and a use of light that creates precious effects of surface and color” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Concerto (Hearing)” 1629 by the Dutchman Hendrick Ter Brugghen (about 1588/1629) among the most innovative Caravaggisti in northern Europe
“Ter Brugghen gave an original interpretation of Caravaggio, in the strong emotional emphasis in religious paintings or in the treatment of some popular subjects, such as the many concerts he painted. His highly personal interpretation of light, both the treatment and the density of the air in the clear luminosity of the background, as well as the importance he gave to color values, were all important parts of the education of the Utrecht school and for training painters like Johannes Vermeer” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Separation of St. Peter and St. Paul led to martyrdom” about 1626 by Giovanni Serodine (about 1600/30)
A surprising and innovative masterpiece
“The touches of light mixed with a clever use of colors anticipate artistically the kind of painting style that would physically and visually employ matter, resulting in almost a distortion of shapes; Serodine accentuated these effects so as to match the results of free brushwork of Velasquez and Rembrandt” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“St. Jerome” and “Crown of Thorns” by Lionello Spada aka Scimmia del Caravaggio (1576/1622)
“Vanity” by the so-called Candlelight Master
“St. Jerome” by Trophime Bigot (about 1579/1649)
“The particular effect of candlelight which cancels the anatomical details and episodes, typical of the works of Bigot, and prominent in St. Jerome, rules out that the painter would be the author of Vanity, which looks very different in the volumetric rendition of the forms highlighted by the use of light. According to a recent suggestion the candle light would display the 'lux intellecti', a metaphor for divine grace derived from St. Augustine” (Rossella Vodret)

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