St Francis is held by angel Gentileschi
As the inscription on the canvas state, the painting was most likely made to decorate the Roman oratory of San Girolamo alla Carità, founded in 1612 by the religious and composer Orazio Griffi (1566-1624). Like the musical production of Griffi himself, a companion of San Filippo Neri, the painting commissioned from Orazio Gentileschi (Pisa 1563 - London 1639) also seems to be marked by meditation and spiritual edification. This could be the project for which Gentileschi used a pair of false wings and a capuchin monk's habit that he borrowed from Caravaggio.
Francis is not represented in the moment of ecstasy, but while reliving the passion of Jesus: it is no coincidence that his swoon closely resembles the images of the agony in the Garden of Olives, in which, since the end of the 16th century, Christ often comes depicted almost unconscious and physically supported by an angel. Equally physical are the signs of the stigmata and of the painful imitation of Christ that Francis carries on himself. (from Palazzo Barberini).
Around the turn of the century, Gentileschi encountered Caravaggio in Rome: though he was almost forty years old and had been a successful painter for over twenty years, Orazio was deeply influenced by his encounter with the new style of the younger master. In contrast to other followers of Caravaggio, Gentileschi was not enslaved to the strong personality of the young Lombard and his extraordinary naturalistic novelties: rather, he selected the aspects of Caravaggio's art that stimulated him. He tended to prefer the clear and transparent light of Caravaggio's earliest works.
Oil on canvas, 133 x 98 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
Amen. Please correct the title: Held instead of Hold
ReplyDeleteThank you Marie, that was very kin of you!
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