Marco d’Oggiono

(Oggiono circa 1467–1524 Milan)
Christ Crowned with Thorns,
oil on panel, 45 x 34.5 cm, framed
Provenance:
possibly Trivulzio Collection, Milan, mid-19th Century;
Private collection, until 2011;
where acquired by the present owner

Literature:
possibly C. Cantù, Milano e il suo territorio, vol. II, Milan 1844, p. 280 (as ‘un Salvatore mezza figura di Marco d’Oggiono’);
C. Geddo, Un inedito ‘Volto di Cristo’ di Marco d’Oggiono, forthcoming publication

We are grateful to Cristina Geddo for confirming the attribution of the present painting after examination in the original and for her help in cataloguing this lot. She dates this work to the artist’s mature period, between 1500–1505.

The present panel is a recent addition to the oeuvre of Marco d’Oggiono, one of the most important followers of Leonardo in Milan in the early 16th century. In his lifetime he was praised for his talent and diligence and as one of the most skillful exponents of Leonardo’s style. Among his patrons was Giuliano della Rovere, later Pope Julius II, who commissioned a series of works from him for Nostra Signora di Castello in Savona in 1500–02, as well as a version of Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks now conserved in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan.

In the present composition Christ is shown frontally before a dark background, with the crown of thorns piercing his forehead. His face is sculpted by a strong chiaroscuro and is marked by suffering. With his symmetrical features, dark hair and beard, Christ corresponds to the vera icon, the image of Jesus Christ perceived as authentic portrait according to the codification of Flemish painting during the 15th century, such as examples by Jan Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and later Hans Memling and Dirk Bouts.

In fact, the depiction of Christ with his inclined head and gaze to the right might refer to a lost prototype by Dirk Bouts which is known through numerous versions by his collaborators, such as an Ecce Homo in the National Gallery, London (inv. no. NG712). Another version is conserved in the Pinacoteca di Varallo Sesia (as anonymous painter, 15th century) and was originally located in the Milanese church Sacri Monti. It is plausible that Marco d’Oggiono knew this work.

The present painting also relates to a fresco by Ambrogio da Fossano, called il Bergognone in the Certosa di Pavia. In addition, Christ’s physiognomy in the present work can be compared to another work by Marco d’Oggiono, the young Salvator Mundi in the Galleria Borghese, Rome (inv. no. 435), especially apparent in the depiction of the skin, as well as the drapery of the red tunic.

Technical analysis by Gianluca Poldi:
The work is painted on a single board, probably poplar, with a sub-tangential cut, 1.7 to 2 cm thick, well preserved. The painter is capable of constructing a painting with the Leonardesque perfection of thin layers spread in oil over the white preparation, based on an essential palette of pigments and an underlying drawing that is probably very accurate. In fact, no change emerges from IR images. This underdrawing is almost completely invisible in reflectography, as other times occurs in works by Marco d'Oggiono, perhaps because it is extremely thin and done with a silver metallic tip or red chalk - widely used in Leonardo's workshop in Milan - or other material not easily identifiable despite the wide band of IR radiation used. Very thin graphic traces can be seen along the edge of the yellow collar of the robe, while a long parallel hatching (already in the pictorial phase?) can be read in the shadow that the robe projects on the chest, carefully cast in a chiaroscuro created essentially with black pigment.

The under-modelling of the hair is very accurate, for which space had been reserved compared to the black background, which was painted first.However, some of the hair overflows above the background, with a series of curls. Some of the curls surmounting the flesh tones were worked with dark brushstrokes, probably black, and a black profile with a brush, not thin, traced the limits of the neck and shoulders, and part of Christ's face on his left side. The only slight uncertainty is in the irises, which are slightly corrected during the finishing phase so that they are perfectly centred.

The synthetic precision of the painter can also be seen in the choice of pigments, in preferring finely ground black and lead white to the more usual green pigments for the crown of thorns, with the final effect of a dark metallic grey-blue colour. The complexion, as evidenced in microscopy and spectrometry, is rendered with a mixture of lead white, finely ground vermilion, yellow ochres, rare particles of red lake and a little black to lower the tone. Yellow-orange ochre, parts of vermilion and probably red lead are used in the yellow-brown edge of the robe. Red lake is used above the brilliant red of cinnabar, in the liquid shadows of the robe, reinforced by parts of black as in use among Leonardo's students. The rendering of the drops of blood is notable: a touch of vermilion for the light, red lake (very probable madder) for the dark and the shadow above the skin painted in brown glaze to give the effect of three-dimensionality.