Saint Francis by Betto Tesei
Betto Tesei: Homage to Saint Francis of Assisi (1926)
Betto Tesei (1898–1953) completed his early studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino under Luigi Scorrano, an exponent of the late Neapolitan naturalism.
At the age of twenty, he moved to the capital, where he assimilated the stylistic principles of "Secentismo plastico," that is, the chiaroscuro lesson of Caravaggio's influence, which he undoubtedly experienced while contemplating the Stories of Saint Matthew in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi.
In the exhibition at Palazzo Pianetti, visitors will be able to explore the artistic genres Betto frequented: portraiture (especially nudes), still lifes, and landscapes.
Betto was a landscape artist and figure painter, who saw beautiful colors and clear light in nature. Among his works, religious subjects were rare. “San Francesco” (1926), presented in Rome on the occasion of the Giovane Arte Picena Exhibition.
The painting, inspired by the story of the biographer Bonaventura, portrays the Saint of Assisi with an ecstatic gaze turned to the sky, his arms crossed on his chest, and his hands wounded by the stigmata he had just received on Mount della Verna.
The use of light strongly recalls Caravaggio's Saint Francis in Ecstasy, while the reason leading Tesei to choose a religious subject was probably supported and encouraged by the extraordinary Franciscan climate in which Italy found itself immersed in the 1920s.
The year 1926 marked the seventh centenary of the death of the Saint of Assisi, and for this occasion, both the Church, led by Pius XI, and the Government, presided over by Benito Mussolini, competed to celebrate the Saint, in a political and diplomatic situation in which the times of the Lateran Pacts (1929) were still far away.
In April 1926, Pope Ratti wrote the encyclical Rite Expiatis with the aim of reawakening the spirit of Francis among the Catholic people, recalling his teachings and life example ("Our desire is that the religious and civil celebrations, conferences, and sacred discourses held during this centenary aim to celebrate the Seraphic Patriarch with displays of true piety").
The encyclical had considerable resonance, also due to a certain polemical tone against those attempts (especially of fascist origin) to exploit the figure of the Saint for improper purposes, such as the exaltation of Italianness (the holiest of Italians, the most Italian of Saints).
The Pope warned the faithful, urging them to "shun that imaginary image of the Saint that supporters of modern errors or followers of luxury and worldly delicacies readily form (...) Such comparisons, mostly the fruit of partisan passions, are of no benefit and are insulting to God, the author of sanctity."
It was in this context, rich in spiritual suggestions (but also external influences of secularist inspiration), that Betto Tesei's Saint Francis was conceived. Even as a young man, he demonstrated that he was not a superficial painter, but a thoughtful and conscious artist.
This is a summary translated from Mauro Torelli's original italian post
Get this restored image, now on sale
Comments
Post a Comment