School of Titian, The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, 17th Century, Oil Painting on Canvas, Framed

Details

Description

The holy family with the infant saint john the baptist

school of titian (pieve di cadore, 1490 - venice, 1576)

… Read more The holy family with the infant saint john the baptist

school of titian (pieve di cadore, 1490 - venice, 1576)

84 x 98 cm - in a gilded frame 96 x 110 cm.

reference literature: g. Tagliaferro, b. Aikema, m. Mancini, and a.j. Martin, 'le botteghe di tiziano', milan 2009

excellent condition, minor defects on the edge of the canvas.

review:

this splendid painting, part of the great venetian renaissance painting tradition, depicts the holy family with the infant saint john the baptist, immortalized in a moment of profound intimacy and spirituality.

the work enchants with its pastoral, twilight atmosphere, where the sacredness of the event blends harmoniously with the surrounding nature, in a suggestive landscape vibrant with light, typically venetian in style, dominated on the right by a fortified village and a castle perched on a hill.

the arrangement of the figures is beautiful and highly symbolic, appearing to move along a soft diagonal line that guides our gaze from left to right, specifically from the shadowed area surrounding the virgin, which alludes to humanity before the coming of the messiah, to the light toward which jesus reaches, which instead alludes to the illumination that marks god's definitive victory over evil.

the divine light is so strong that it pierces the dense clouds, illuminating the scene and creating a dynamic chiaroscuro contrast with the gloom of the forest on the left.

the infant jesus, supported by his mother, represents the true fulcrum of the composition and creates a strong visual and gestural connection with the other figures: saint joseph, who observes him with wise and serene contemplation, and the infant baptist, who approaches and offers him a lamb, a symbol of his future sacrifice.

the painting draws, with variations, on a famous titian prototype held at the musée du louvre in paris (image 1 - source: federico zeri foundation online archive, https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/fotografia/135325/ ).

our work fits easily into the series of replicas produced by titian's workshop, and the artist should therefore be sought among the students or collaborators of the master's close circle (the so-called school of titian).

consider that it was customary for the artist's workshop to create similar works from the same studies, introducing small or large variations based on the requests of individual clients: the methodical repetition of prototypes responded to very precise criteria, and once the initial prototype (the "creative spark") was created, it was standard practice to reuse the same compositional concept.

specifically, this composition, which enjoyed considerable success at the time, can be found in numerous examples, replicated and reworked with the utmost mastery by his school.

it therefore remains philologically difficult to trace the work to a specific name, even within the prolific titian workshop that flourished in the 17th century thanks to his nephew marco vecellio (venice, c. 1570 - c. 1650). For more than half a century, a host of painters, diverse in origin, skill, and training, gravitated around titian. The workshop included painters such as francesco and orazio vecellio, paris bordon, girolamo dente, polidoro da lanciano, jan van calcar, valerio zuccate, emanuel amberge, and many others. In addition to the names just mentioned, considered his most faithful, many other assistants, disciples, and occasional collaborators followed one another for a short time. Among the many foreigners were the dutchmen von calcar and sustris, the bavarians hans mielich and christoph schwarz, and el greco himself.

the louvre museum itself possesses a second version of this prototype, which is identical to the one just mentioned in terms of amiability of sentiments. For centuries it was attributed to titian himself, then reassigned to polidoro da lanciano, one of his most faithful pupils (image 2 - louvre museum, https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010060755 ).

the zeri photo library's online catalog also includes eight versions, most of which are attributed to anonymous venetian artists active between the 16th and 17th centuries, while others are attributed to workshop artists. Among these, we can mention, for example:

image 3 - holy family with the infant saint john the baptist, anonymous venetian, 16th century (possibly francesco vecellio)
https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/46133/

image 4 - holy family with the infant saint john the baptist, anonymous venetian, 16th century 16th century, estense gallery
https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/46131/

picture 5 - holy family with the infant saint john the baptist, anonymous venetian artist, 16th century (possibly titian), frederick mont & newhouse galleries, new york
https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/45985/

picture 5 - holy family with the infant saint john the baptist, anonymous venetian artist, 16th century, o. Klein, new york
https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/46130/

additional information:

the painting is presented in a beautiful gilded frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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