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Res. Katalogtext: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, 
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 11:

FORMER INV. NOS.: 204 (1796–97); 32 (1798); 348 (M. 1804);
KM 485.

TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a medium-coarse, plainweave linen 
fabric. Later, in Sweden, it has been glued onto hardboard (marouflage). 
The tacking edges are cropped and all the edges have been filled and retouched. 
All impastos, such as brushstrokes, are almost obliterated due to the marouflage. 
There are numerous old retouches all over the surface. The varnish is very
thick and yellowed. Documented restorations: 1838: Restored by Heidecken; 
1921: Restored, stretching, minor repairs, varnish; 1947: Relining. Tear mended, 
cleaning, paint layer repaired, varnish.

PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 7 (as Lanfranco); Sander 1872–
76, III, p. 125, no. 348 (as Lanfranco); NM Cat. 1958, p. 232 
(as anonymous,17th century); NM Cat. 1990, p. 420 
(as anonymous, 17th century).

At the end of his career, Brandi painted an altarpiece
 of the Trinity with St Bernardo Tolomei (1685–90) 
for the church of Santa Francesca Romana in Rome.¹ 
The painting is one of the best examples of how he 
achieved chiaroscuro luminescence through a 
chromatic tonality. However, the composition is 
somewhat overcrowded; it is akin to the artist’s 
masterful frescoes in the church of Gesù e Maria, 
Rome, and would perhaps have been better suited to
that medium. Brandi’s foreshortening of the body 
of Christ is quite similar in  a tondo with this motif 
which he probably painted around the same time.²
It is also very similar to the  corresponding depiction
of Christ  in the Deposition (1682) in Sant’Andrea al 
Quirinale. In this case, the  overall compositions are 
similar too, with the Magdalen  in the Deposition, 
who is washing the hands of Christ with her hair, 
taking an analogous  position to St Bernardo. 
In these three paintings, the chalk-white body of 
Christ is starkly offset against the dark background, 
against the luminescent, almost golden skin tones
of the accompanying figures, and against the 
quite bright colours of the garment draped over 
Christ’s legs and of the Magdalen’s raiment.³

In Fredenheim’s catalogue, the present painting is 
attributed to Lanfranco.⁴ On the verso paper label, 
Corvi and Tofanelli attribute it to the same artist, 
though with some reservation, describing it as 
“Lanfranco. Un Cristo morto coll’Erimateo. 
Incerto; ma di  Autore superiore”. Corvi and Tofanelli
 were on the right track; although not by Lanfranco, 
the work was in all likelihood executed by Brandi 
at about the same time as the altarpiece of the 
Trinity with St Bernardo Tolomei for the Santa
Francesca Romana. The depictions of Christ and the
saint are very similar between the two paintings; 
in fact, the Nationalmuseum painting seems to be
a reduced version of the altarpiece, concentrating
entirely on the meditative relationship between the
penitent hermit and Christ. As in the paintings 
mentioned above, the white of Christ’s body
is finely contrasted against the dark background, 
while it is also, as in the altarpiece, mirrored in the
monk’s raiment, perhaps intentionally reflecting
the relationship between the Benedictine Order and 
Christ.⁵ In both the altarpiece and the Nationalmuseum
 canvas, the garment draped over the legs of Christ is
 painted in a saturated, dark blue colour. Interestingly, 
in a painting by Brandi in the church of Sant’Angelo 
Magno in Ascoli Piceno, Marche, depicting St Bernardo
holding a crucifix in meditation and penitence, the 
same shade of blue is found in the background
sky, creating a similar chromatic contrast
with the white robes.⁶

In the Nationalmuseum painting as in the altarpiece, 
the blind monk cups the left hand of Christ in both his
hands, while leaning forward to kiss it. The light falls 
on Christ’s body and on the bald head of the monk in
almost exactly the same fashion, creating the same 
fine contrast between the golden skin tones of the 
monk and the chalk-white of the body of Christ. 
Christ’s emaciated yet muscular body is naturalistically
depicted, highlighting bone structure as well as 
musculature and veins. Just as in the altarpiece, 
Christ’s head rests on a cloud. Instruments of the 
Passion such as spikes are also visible in the 
foreground of both paintings.

Despite the close likeness between the two pictures,
there are no aspects of the Nationalmuseum painting
that point to it being a copy. Rather, the slight
differences that can be observed suggest that it is a 
variant of the theme of the altarpiece, probably painted 
by Brandi on commission from a patron – perhaps to be
used in a private chapel for prayer and contemplation.

St Bernardo Tolomei was born in Siena in 1272. 
He was baptized Giovanni and later took the name 
Bernardo in veneration of the holy Cistercian monk. 
He was probably educated by the Dominicans at the 
College of San Domenico di Camporegio. He studied, 
and later practised, law, while at the same time he was 
a member of the Confraternity of the Disciplinati di Santa
Maria della Notte, dedicated to aiding the sick at the 
Hospital Santa Maria della Scala. Gradually Bernardo
developed almost total blindness, which prevented any
further civil career. In 1313he retired to a property 
belonging to his family in Accona, together with two
of his friends. Here they lived in hermitical ascetic 
seclusion, penitence and silence, praying and performing
manual labour. In 1319 Bernardo was authorized to 
build the monastery of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, 
which was to come under the direction of the 
Benedictine Order. In accepting this mission, Bernardo 
also accepted the rule and cenobitism of the Benedictines.
However, Bernardoand his followers chose to wear white
robes in honour of the purity of the Virgin, which were also
to reflect the purity of those who wore them.Bernardo
sent two emissaries to Avignon, where Pope Clementine VI
 approved the forming of the congregation in 1344. 
In 1348 Bernardo left for Siena to tend to the victims of 
the plague, which had struck the city hard. Later the 
same year, Bernardo himself fell victim to the disease. 
Bernardo was not canonized until as late as 26 April 2009. 
However, his reputation had grown rapidly quite soon after 
his death, and in the 17th century he was treated in the
 same manner as a saint in Italian religious art.

DP

1 Pampalone 1973, pp. 123–166, pl. 56; Fondazione Federico
Zeri, Università di Bologna, Catalogo Fototeca, Giacinto
Brandi, Trinità e san Bernardo Tolomei, Chiesa di Santa
Francesca Romana/Chiesa di Santa Maria Nova, numero
scheda: 47742, numero busta: 0487.
2 Federico Zeri, Università di Bologna, Catalogo Fototeca,
Giacinto Brandi, Compianto sui Cristo morto con due
santi monaci e angeli, whereabouts unknown, numero
scheda: 47800, numero busta: 0487.
3 Pampalone 1973, p. 152.
4 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet
de Martelli (à Rome).
5 Brizzi 2009, pp. 3–19.
6 Fondazione Federico Zeri, Università di Bologna, Catalogo
Fototeca, Giacinto Brandi, San Bernardo Tolomei, numero
scheda: 47741, numero busta: 0487.
7 Brizzi 2009, pp. 3–19.
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