Allegory over Poetry
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 113 x 80 cm h x w x d: Ram 129 x 96 x 5 cm
Inventory numberNM 210
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (Martelli 1804)
Other titlesTitel (sv): Allegori över diktkonsten Titel (en): Allegory over Poetry Titel (en): The Study of the Literate: Allegory of Poetry
DescriptionRes. Katalogtext: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 78: FORMER INV. NOS.: 132 (M. 1796–97); 196 (F. 1798); 379 (M. 1804); KM 48. TECHNICAL NOTES: Labelled on verso: “Dominichino. Lo Studio col Genio della Gloria”. The support consists of a single piece of coarse, densely woven, plain-weave linen fabric. It has been lined with glue and mounted with staples on a Martelli strainer. This was probably done in Italy before shipping to Sweden. The tacking edges are cropped and covered with strips of newspaper (Swedish). There is an old repair on the verso, done with a piece of newspaper. The ground is red and covers the whole support. The structure of the original canvas has been reinforced by the lining process and is clearly visible through the ground and the paint layer. The painting has a 1 cm wide brown painted border. There are a few small retouches. The painting is in good condition PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804. BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 14 (as Domenichino); Sander 1872–76, III, p. 129, no. 379 (as Domenichino); Göthe 1887, pp. 301– 302 (as Domenichino, attributed to); NM Cat. 1958, p. 107 (as Lanfranco, manner of); NM Cat. 1990, p.193 (as Lanfranco, manner of). Nicola Martelli’s incomplete classification of his collection, preserved in the Nationalmuseum, contains an interesting reference to the present painting. Listing it in the category of second-class works, Martelli describes the subject as well as pointing out stylistic details which, in his opinion, confirm its artistic value.¹ The composition and the posture of the figures evoke Domenichino’s St Jerome in the National Gallery, London (c. 1602). Since Martelli assigned the present painting to Domenichino, it is likely that he partly based his attribution on these apparent similarities. He probably knew the St Jerome, which has been documented in the collection of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (1571–1621) and, later, in that of his heir Olimpia Aldobrandini (1623–1681).² Although the composition is not identical, the St Jerome suggests an interesting starting point, not only from a purely formal point of view, but also in terms of subject matter: 19. The Study (Domenico Zampieri) The Painter has, according to his manner, used much reflection in depicting The Study of the Literate. He is represented as vigilant by the symbol of the cock, since he has been awake all night, as indicated by the dawn on the horizon and by the extinguished lamp. Whilst absorbed in meditation over a book, he is shaken by the genius of Glory who has come to crown him, pointing to the holy mountain of the muses. However, he is not moved in his posture: he remains composed in his meditations, and thus demonstrates once again that the true literate is not subject to the glory of Fame as much as to the sweetness of Wisdom herself. The composition is most ingenious: the turning movement of the literate originates from the ordinary situation of a person writing at a desk and from the voice and rustling of the wings of the genius that suddenly surprises him from behind his shoulders. The movement of the Genius is admirable and difficult, since in such a position it is not possible to study a model. The literate’s abstraction is expressed not only in his features, but in all his limbs and particularly in the right hand that holds the pen. The drawing is admirable (but this is common with Domenichino). What is more unusual about this painting is the beautiful colour of the palette, as in the one of St Jerome. And due to its excellent primer coat (unusual in his paintings, just as in those of Guercino, Carracci), it has been freshly preserved in wholehearted colour. The elaborate composition represents an allegory of poetry and the literary effort, a theme that must surely have appealed to Martelli’s own literary interests. Interestingly, some details, such as the bird, the books and the activity of writing, evoke the iconography of St John the Evangelist. This explains why Sander described the motif as representing that saint and why he paid no attention to Martelli’s label, clearly visible on the reverse. However, Sander neglected not only to examine Martelli’s explanation of the painting, but also to distinguish between an eagle, the accompanying bird of the evangelist, and a cock, an old symbol of vigilance. Martelli’s attribution to Domenichino cannot be sustained. Despite the carefully drawn figure, a typical feature of Domenichino’s work, and the close similarities in the modelling of St Jerome’s face and that of the poet, the painting must be assigned to an author of the second generation of classicist painters active in Rome during the second half of the 17th century. Martelli mentions the vivid colouring, a detail which – together with the clear reverence to Domenichino’s oeuvre as well as to the pathos of Guido Reni and the sense of movement of Pietro da Cortona, here visible in the formal solutions for the genius of Glory – indicates the hand of Giovan Francesco Romanelli.³ This painter, who found his fortune during the Barberini pontificate (1622–44), was probably introduced onto the Roman scene by Domenichino and eventually trained under Pietro da Cortona. Romanelli scholars, though, reject the idea that he was a mere pupil of Cortona, and stress his careful interpretation of the old stylistic canon.⁴ This view gains further support from his biographer Giovanni Battista Passeri, who stresses the artist’s stylistic independence and inventive subject matter.⁵ The present painting is a fine example of this argument. Its classicist gravitas is vividly enlivened by the strong palette and the ingenious and challenging iconography, certainly a typical feature of Romanelli’s oeuvre. SNE 1 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet de Martelli (à Rome). See Appendix 1. 2 Spear 1996 pp. 370–371. 3 I am indebted to Angela Negro, who has generously discussed this proposed attribution with me. 4 Oy-Marra 2007, p. 307. 5 Passeri 1772, pp. 328–336. [End]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword