Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Painter active in Lombardy, in Milan, in the seventeenth century
Circle of Camillo Procaccini (Bologna 1561 - 1629 Milan)
St. Matthew and the Angel
Oil painting on canvas
Cm. 120 x 96, In frame 135 x 112 cm.
The canvas that we illustrate, characterized by a remarkable expressive capacity, portrays the Evangelist Matthew, engaged in the writing of his Gospel, while welcoming the indications of the angel who appeared behind him, which will become his iconographic attribute.
The intense play of their gazes leads back to the symbolic meaning, contained in the Catholic tradition, of collaboration between God and man, and refers to a sort of theatrical performance where the actions of the two protagonists blend perfectly.
St. Matthew is sitting at his desk, he has just stopped writing to dip the pen in the inkwell and turn around at the same time and observe the divine messenger, as if he needed help.
His gaze is attentive, devoted, respectful, waiting to grasp the sacred word, and directed towards the eloquent gesture of the angel who holds the count with the hands of the genealogy of Christ. In fact, the messenger does not directly guide the hands of St. Matthew but counts with his fingers retracing the generations that connect Christ to King David (precisely the 42 generations of the Ancestors of Jesus).
What stands out in the painting are the vivid and warm colors, which give it great softness, and the powerful light that radiates the scene, which seems to be directed at the angel's gesture, as if to emphasize his leading role.
The work is perfectly ascribed to the Lombard pictorial current of the seventeenth century, an extraordinarily happy artistic period which, especially in the first half of the century, saw an impressive array of leading artistic personalities succeed one another.
Although it deserves a specific study, which identifies its authorship in a more restricted way, our canvas, with its direct and engaging devotional intensity, recalls in particular the works of Camillo Procaccini (Bologna 1561 - Milan 1629 Milan), and can be assigned to an author of his circle.
Son of art and belonging to a large family of painters, he began his training in the workshop of his father Ercole Procaccini the Elder, and then moved to Milan in 1587. Here he will work for most of his career, becoming one of the protagonists of the local art scene between the end of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Still inspired by the models of Emilian Mannerism, our painting is connected to the more mature works, in which its formally clear style (reminiscent of the example of the Carraccis), however, moves away from the dramatic sense, distinguished by the chiaroscuro excesses, which characterized the language more properly Lombard of Morazzone, Cerano and Giulio Cesare Procaccini.
Excellent storage conditions. Beautiful gilded wood frame, not coeval.
Delevery information :
We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
We take great care We personally take care of the packaging, to which we devote a great deal of care: each work is carefully packed, first with arti- cle material, then with a custom-made wooden box.
Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
