Giuseppe Cesari, called Il Cavaliere D'Arpino - The Holy Family Adored by Saint Francis and an Angel

Giuseppe Cesari, called Il Cavaliere D'Arpino

The Holy Family Adored by Saint Francis and an Angel

Oil on copper. 45 x 36.5 cm.

This work depicts the Holy Family - conspicuously depicted in the centre right of the image - enthroned within a loosely sketched interior and under a draped fabric canopy. An angel leads Saint Francis, who kneels in adoration before the Child in the center of the picture, towards the Virgin. This fine work, painted "en grisaille", captivates us though the intimacy of the scene and above all through the restrained palette, which stands in clear contrast to the otherwise vivid coloring of most of the Cavalier D'Arpino's works.
Herwarth Röttgen dates this painting to around 1606, at in a time when the artist was already called "the greatest painter in Rome". In addition to his monumental frescoes in Roman churches, he also created a wealth of ingeniously painted small format works, which can be admired today in museums throughout the world. His patrons also included Emperor Rudolf II in Prague.

Provenance

The Sestieri collection, Rome. - The Italo Faldi collection, Rome. - Continental private collection.

Literature

H. Röttgen: Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d´Arpino. Un grande pittore nelle splendore della fortuna, Rome 2002, p. 379. no. 137. - M. S. Bolzoni: Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari D´Arpino. Maestro del Disegno, Catalogo ragionatodell´opera grafica, Rome 2013, p. 343, no. 222. - H. Röttgen: Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari D´Arpino, Die Zeichnungen III. Reife und Alter, Stuttgart 2013, no. 427.