Felice Ficherelli (san Gimignano 1603 - Florence 1660), Saint Ursula

Felice Ficherelli known as 'il Riposo' (San Gimignano 1603 - Florence 1660) attributable
Saint Ursula

oil on canvas (octagonal)
cm. 82 x 74
Carved and gilded frame cm. 110 x 99

The beautiful painting proposed turns out to be an interesting work attributable to the early maturity of the painter Felice Ficherelli, known as Felice Riposo or simply Il Riposo (San Gimignano 1603 - Florence 1660), a refined exponent of 17th-century Florentine painting.

The protagonist of our canvas is the young and attractive princess Saint Ursula, represented with her royal clothes of her rank, and killed by a fatal arrow that in our painting hits her in her throat, becoming an attribute of her martyrdom.

Made famous by a medieval legend, Orsola (or Ursula), daughter of a king of Brittany, was a very devoted young woman who decided to consecrate her life to Christ; she returning from a pilgrimage to Rome she arrived in Cologne, in the meantime conquered by Attila. Seeing her young woman, the Hun king fell in love with her beauty and decided to take her as his wife, only to have her killed with an arrow when she refused to grant himself.

In the painting in question, her right hand with long tapered fingers, placed on her chest, is a sign of confirmation of the choice made in full awareness of the otherworldly joys that await her after her death.

Among the most important artists of the Tuscan Baroque, Felice Ficherelli's pictorial nature is characterized by a harmonious style, which is fully recognizable in this mystical Saint Ursula, in its diffusion of lights and colors. The latter, with Furini and Bilivert, is certainly one of the most significant painters in the Florentine context, characterized by a stylistic language of soft and atmospheric chiaroscuro.

He moved from his native San Gimignano, while still a boy, to the Medici capital, and remained for a long time linked to the prestigious family of Count Alberto de’Bardi di Vernio, one of the most generous patrons of the city, who introduced him to the workshop of Jacopo da Empoli. While never interrupting this relationship, Ficherelli decided to become independent in order to meet the requests of the important figures of the Grand Ducal court and of the noble Florentine families.

Observing the rich catalog of Fedele Ficherelli, of which our work would be an example, it is easy to note how the master turned to a naturalistic painting, tinged with a subtle sensuality, accentuated by the use of a tender and nuanced pictorial material, exalted in the silky effects of the drapery.

The canvas in question finds comparison with other representations in which the artist represents female nudes, characterized by a languid painting, imbued with that typical poeticity that characterizes a certain Florentine painting of the time, approaching the more sensual and soft language of Francesco Furini ( Florence 1603 - 1646).

Furini's legacy is clearly visible in his intent to make the figures in a sensual attitude, despite the representation of their ecstatic tension: in particular we can mention the numerous versions of the half-length 'Magdalene' (preserved in private collections in Naples, Zurich and Florence), or the 'Sant'Agata' of the Musée des Beaux-Arts Magnin in Dijon, or in the 'Sofonisba drinks the poison' of unknown location, in the "Martirio di Sant'Agata", Florence, private collection, and finally the “Magdalene in prayer”, of similar reference.

The work is presented in an excellent state of conservation, completed by a gilded wooden frame.