Saint John the Baptist (Preti)

Last updated
Saint John the Baptist (c. 1653-1656) by Mattia Preti Mattia preti, san giovanni battista, 1653, Q271.JPG
Saint John the Baptist (c. 1653-1656) by Mattia Preti

Saint John the Baptist is a c.1653-1656 oil on canvas painting by Mattia Preti, now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples. [1]

Contents

It shows the saint in a pose that became typical in Preti's work, using foreshortening, chiaroscuro, and several red colours, especially in the saint's cloak. [1] He had already used this treatment of the human figure in the lunette frescoes at the church of San Biagio in Modena, whose Saint John the Baptist seems to be a prototype for the work now in Naples. That treatment later reached its apogee in his Saint Sebastian , produced for the church of Santa Maria ad Ogni Bene dei Sette Dolori and now also in the Museo di Capodimonte. [1]

History

The work's provenance is identical to that of the same artist's Judith and Holofernes . [1] The first written reference to it is in the 1659 will of the Calabrian lawyer Domenico di Somma, which mistakes its subject for Judith. [1] It was then inherited by di Somma's friend, collaborator and fellow Calabrian, Antonino Laratta. [1] Di Somma and Laratta were both Preti's lawyers during the painter's argument with the fathers of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. [1] On Laratta's death in 1685 both paintings were left to the church of San Domenico Soriano in Naples, as di Somma had stipulated before his death - that church was the centre of the Calabrian community in Naples. [1] The two works were placed on the side walls of the chapel where di Somma was buried, immediately to the right of the high altar. [1]

When the religious order was suppressed in 1806, these two paintings and a Saint Nicholas (Preti's first work in Naples, initially produced for the Gallo-Coscia chapel but by 1806 in San Domenico Soriano) were moved into the Bourbon collection in Palazzo dei Regi Studi [2] - the Saint Nicholas was exhibited there immediately, but the Judith and Saint John were initially placed in the collection's stores, with restoration to the support of Saint John in 1839, and both works were finally exhibited in 1870. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niccolò Antonio Colantonio</span> Italian painter

Colantonio was an Italian painter, who was the outstanding native figure in the art of Naples in the Early Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo di Capodimonte</span> Art museum and historic site in Naples, Italy

Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important ancient Roman sculptures. It is one of the largest museums in Italy. The museum was inaugurated in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battistello Caracciolo</span> Neapolitan artist and follower of Caravaggio (1578-1635)

Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (1578–1635) was an Italian artist and important Neapolitan follower of Caravaggio. He was a member of the murderous Cabal of Naples, with Belisario Corenzio and Giambattista Caracciolo, who were rumoured to have poisoned and disappeared their competition for painting contracts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattia Preti</span> Italian painter (1613–1699)

Mattia Preti was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Vaccaro</span> Italian painter

Andrea Vaccaro was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Vaccaro was in his time one of the most successful painters in Naples, a city then under Spanish rule. Very successful and valued in his lifetime, Vaccaro and his workshop produced many religious works for local patrons as well as for export to Spanish religious orders and noble patrons. He was initially influenced by Caravaggio, in particular in his chiaroscuro and the naturalistic rendering of his figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco de Mura</span> Italian painter (1696–1782)

Francesco de Mura was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Naples and Turin. His late work reflects the style of neoclassicism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvatore Fergola</span> Italian painter

Salvatore Fergola was an Italian painter, mainly of landscapes or vedute in and around his native Naples. He is considered an exponent of the School of Posillipo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria della Verità</span> Church in Campania, Italy

Santa Maria della Verità is a church in rione Materdei, in the quartiere of Stella of Naples, Italy. The entry is located on Via San Agostino degli Scalzi, number 6.

Bartolomeo Passante or Bassante was an Italian painter of the Baroque era active in Naples.

<i>The Temples of Paestum</i>

The Temples of Paestum is an 1824 painting by Antonie Sminck Pitloo. It shows two of the temples at Paestum, probably during an excavation.

<i>Saint Sebastian</i> (Preti) Painting by Mattia Preti

Saint Sebastian is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Mattia Preti, created c. 1657. It represents Saint Sebastian, and is held in the National Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples.

<i>Assumption of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine of Alexandria</i> Painting by Fra Bartolomeo

Assumption of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine of Alexandria is an oil on panel painting by Fra Bartolomeo, created c. 1516, commissioned by the church of Santa Maria in Castello in Prato. To the left of the Virgin's tomb is John the Baptist, whilst to the right is Catherine of Alexandria. It is now in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Portrait of Maria Luisa of Parma</i> Painting by Francisco de Goya

Portrait of Maria Luisa of Parma is a portrait of Maria Luisa of Parma, wife of Charles IV of Spain, produced as a pendant painting to a portrait of her husband. Both works were long thought to be a copy after an autograph work by Francisco Goya, but they have now been definitively reattributed as autograph works by Goya himself, produced late in the 18th century. Goya was a court artist to the royal family, though most of his paintings of them are still in the Prado Museum. The two works were commissioned by the couple's daughter Maria Isabella of Spain. They were sent to Maria Isabella and they are both now in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Madonna and Child with Donors</i> Painting by Palma Vecchio

Madonna and Child with Donors or Sacred Conversation with Donors is a c. 1525 oil on panel painting by Palma Vecchio, now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Judith and Holofernes</i> (Preti) Painting by Mattia Preti

Judith and Holofernes is an oil on canvas painting by Italian artist Mattia Preti, datable to around 1653–1656. It is held at the Museo di Capodimonte, in Naples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penitent Magdalene (Titian, 1550)</span> Painting by Titian

Penitent Magdalene is a c. 1550 oil on canvas painting by Titian, now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Madonna of Constantinople</i> (Preti) Painting by Mattia Preti

Madonna of Constantinople is a c. 1656 oil on canvas painting by Mattia Preti. It was the first of many works commissioned as ex-votos for freeing the city from the plague of 1656 – they all showed the Madonna with a selection of the city's patron saints, in this case Joseph, Januarius, Roch, Nicasius and Rosalia (centre). It now hangs in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Portrait of Pope Paul III with camauro</i> Painting by Titian

Portrait of Pope Paul III with Camauro is a 1545 – 1546 oil on canvas painting by Titian, now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Earthly Trinity with Saints and God the Father</span> Painting by Jusepe de Ribera

The Earthly Trinity with Saints and God the Father are a pair of c.1626-c.1635 oil on canvas paintings by Jusepe de Ribera, both now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples. Along with the Holy Family, the main work shows Bruno of Cologne, Benedict of Nursia, Bernardino of Siena and Bonaventure.

<i>Saint Nicholas</i> (Preti) Painting by Mattia Preti

Saint Nicholas is a c. 1653 painting by Mattia Preti, the first work he produced after moving to Naples and showing the three gold balls which are a traditional attribute of the saint. It is now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in the same city. He also produced a larger version of the work in 1657 which is now in the Pinacoteca civica in Fano, with an early copy after the Capodimonte version now in the church of Santa Teresa degli Scalzi in Naples.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (in Italian) Nicola Spinosa, Mattia Preti. Tra Roma, Napoli e Malta, Napoli, Electa, 1999, ISBN 978-8851001292, p. 132.
  2. 1 2 (in Italian) Nicola Spinosa, Mattia Preti. Tra Roma, Napoli e Malta, Napoli, Electa, 1999, ISBN 978-8851001292, p. 130.

Bibliography