17thC Classical Iconography

Slide 1: Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) The Inspiration of St Matthew 1602, destroyed

Caravaggio_St_Matthew_and_the_Angel_1602

Slide 2: Caravaggio The Inspiration of St Matthew 1602, Rome, Contarelli Chapel
Caravaggio_The_Inspiration_of_St_Matthew_1602_Contarelli_Chapel

In 1565 the French Monsignor Matteo Contarelli acquired a chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, but when he died twenty years later it had not yet been decorated. The executor of his will, Virgilio Crescenzi, and later his son, Giacomo, undertook the task. The decorative scheme called for a statue of St Matthew and the Angel, commissioned first to Gerolamo Muziano, and then to the Flemish sculptor Cobaert, for the high altar; and for a fresco cycle for the walls and ceiling by Cavalier d’Arpino. The latter decorated the wall in 1591-93, but the walls were left bare (this may reflect at least in part the Crescenzis’ intentions to speculate on the interest on the Contarelli estate). On 13 June 1599 a contract was stipulated before a notary by which Caravaggio undertook to execute two paintings for the lateral walls, for which he was paid the following year (1600), after the paintings had been set in place. Later, on 7 February 1602, after Cobaert’s statue had been judged unsatisfactory, an altarpiece was entrusted to Caravaggio in a separate contract that called for delivery of the work by 32 May, the Feast of the Pentecost. This painting was rejected, the artist made another one (which was accepted) in a surprisingly brief time, receiving payment for this second work on 22 September. The first version of the St Matthew and the Angel was purchased by Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani and then ended up in Berlin, where it was destroyed in the Second World War. The second version (this picture) still stands over the altar today. The first version was a masterpiece of the artist. It contained, in the angel who with gentle indulgence guided the saint’s uncertain hand as he wrote, one of the most charming figures ever painted by the artist. The first painting was criticised for Matthew’s lack of decorum. In the final version, likewise a splendid feat of imagination but certainly less fascinating than the first, the angel much more correctly counts on his fingers, in the traditional scholastic fashion, the arguments than the saint should take note of and develop. A whirlwind of drapery envelops the angel. The saint balances on his bench, in precarious equilibrium, like a modern schoolboy; but this time the unorthodox elements do not seem to have raised particular objections.

Slide 3: Caravaggio The Calling of St Matthew 1599-1600, Rome, Contarelli Chapel
Caravaggio_The_Calling_of_St_Matthew_1599-1600

Slide 4: Caravaggio The Conversion of St Paul 1600-1601, Rome, Cerasi Chapel
Caravaggio_The_Conversion_on_the_Way_to_Damascus_1600

Slide 5: Caravaggio The Crucifixion of St Peter 1600-1601, Rome, Cerasi Chapel
Caravaggio_The_Crucifixion_of_St_Peter_1600

Slide 6: Annibale Carracci The Assumption of the Virgin, 1601, Rome, Cerasi Chapel
Carracci_The_Assumption_of_the_Virgon_1601

Slide 7: Annibale Carracci The Dead Christ Mourned, c 1603, London, NG
Carracci_The_Dead_Christ_Mourned

Slide 8: Annibale Carracci Ceiling of the Farnese gallery including Diana and Endymion, love and Juno studies for Ignudi, 1597-1608, Rome, Farnese Palace
Carracci_Farnese_Ceiling_fresco_1597-1602

Slide 9: Pietro da Cortona The Glorification of Urbain VIII’s Reign 163 3-1639, Rome, Barberini Palace
da_Cortona_The_Glorification_of_Urban_VII_Reign_1633-1639

Slide 10: Antoine Coysevox Louis XIV (stucco), c. 1680, Versailles, Salon de la Guerre

Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) was one of Louis XIV’s most talented sculptors. His
commissions at Versailles include this large stucco relief called the
Triumph of Louis XIV.

Coysevox_Louis_XIV_Versailles_Salon_de_la_Guerre

Slide 11: Charles Le Brun Salon de Ia Guerre (ceiling painting), 1678-1686, Versailles
LeBrun_Salon_de_la_Guerre_celing_painting_Versailles

Slide 12: Peter Paul Rubens Landing of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles 1622-25, Paris, Louvre
Rubens_The_Arrival_of_Marie_de_Medici_at_Marseilles_1622-26

Slide 13: Rubens Apotheosis of Henri l 1622-25, Paris, Louvre
Rubens_Apotheosis_of_Henry_IV_1622-25

Slide 14: Nicolas Poussin The Israelites gathering the manna 1639, Paris, Louvre
Poussin_The_Israelites_Gathering_the_Manna_1639

Slide 15: Poussin The Death of Germanicus 1627, Minneapolis, Institute of Arts
Poussin_The_Death_of_Germanicus_1627

The first important commission Poussin received was from Cardinal Francesco Barberini at the end of 1626, for the Death of Germanicus. The picture, now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, was completed early in 1628 and immediately became famous. The subject was inspired by the ‘Annals’ of Tacit. This was the first of the deathbed scenes that Poussin was to favour throughout his life. The figures are arranged in a frieze-like composition which was almost certainly derived from the arrangement of figures on classical sarcophagi. Already, too, there is a preoccupation with classical antiquity and its intensely moral approach to life. In his pictures Poussin was to become obsessed by morality, and with man facing the supreme trial: how to face death with equanimity

Slide 16: Rubens The Miracles of St Ignatius Loyola 1617, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
Rubens_The_Miracles_of_St_Ignatius_Loyola_1617

Slide 17: Philippe de Champaigne Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu c. 1637, London NG
Champaigne_Portrait_of_Cardinal_Richelieu_1637

Slide 18: Rubens Portrait of Helena Fourment “Het Pelsken” c. 1638, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum(image not found)

Slide 19: Claude Perseus and the Origins of Coral 1674, Holkham Hall
Claude_Perseus_and_the_Origins_of_Coral_1674_drawing

Slide 20: Annibale Carracci The Butcher’s Shop c. 1583, Christ Church, Oxford
Carracci_The_Butchers_Shop_1583

Slide 21: Le Valentin The Four Ages of Man c. 1626, London, NG
Valentin_Four_Ages_of_Man1626

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.