Mario Minniti
(Syracuse 1577–1640)
The Mocking of Christ,
oil on canvas, 182.5 x 186 cm, framed
Provenance:
European art market;
where acquired by the present owner
We are grateful to Nicosetta Roio for endorsing the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph.
The present Mocking of Christ, a popular subject matter in seventeenth-century painting, is a typical example for the artistic production of Mario Minniti.
The kneeling and elegantly dressed figure, perhaps the donor or patron, can be compared with the similar figure in Minniti’s Immaculate Conception with Saint Anthony of Padua and Donors in the church of San Pietro in Piazza Armerina, in the province of Enna (see V. Abbate, G. Grado, V. Greco, Mario Minniti, l’eredità di Caravaggio a Siracusa, Naples 2004, p. 23).
Mario Minniti was born in Syracuse on 8 December 1577. Originally instructed by his father to study literature, his interests changed towards art at the age of 15. It is known that he fled Syracuse in a galley of the Knights of Malta, but the sources do not specify the reasons. It is not known how long the painter stayed in Malta, probably under the protection of the Knights of Jerusalem, with whom he subsequently remained in contact. It is probable that the young Minniti met Filippo Paladini (1544–1614), who was also on the island around 1590. Between 1595 and 1596 Minniti appears in documents, together with Caravaggio, in the workshop of the Sicilian Lorenzo Carli. Minniti would spend ten years in Rome, before returning to Sicily in 1605, where he would produce numerous paintings, destined for the main Sicilian centres, such as Syracuse, Messina, or Palermo.
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(Syracuse 1577–1640)
The Mocking of Christ,
oil on canvas, 182.5 x 186 cm, framed
Provenance:
European art market;
where acquired by the present owner
We are grateful to Nicosetta Roio for endorsing the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph.
The present Mocking of Christ, a popular subject matter in seventeenth-century painting, is a typical example for the artistic production of Mario Minniti.
The kneeling and elegantly dressed figure, perhaps the donor or patron, can be compared with the similar figure in Minniti’s Immaculate Conception with Saint Anthony of Padua and Donors in the church of San Pietro in Piazza Armerina, in the province of Enna (see V. Abbate, G. Grado, V. Greco, Mario Minniti, l’eredità di Caravaggio a Siracusa, Naples 2004, p. 23).
Mario Minniti was born in Syracuse on 8 December 1577. Originally instructed by his father to study literature, his interests changed towards art at the age of 15. It is known that he fled Syracuse in a galley of the Knights of Malta, but the sources do not specify the reasons. It is not known how long the painter stayed in Malta, probably under the protection of the Knights of Jerusalem, with whom he subsequently remained in contact. It is probable that the young Minniti met Filippo Paladini (1544–1614), who was also on the island around 1590. Between 1595 and 1596 Minniti appears in documents, together with Caravaggio, in the workshop of the Sicilian Lorenzo Carli. Minniti would spend ten years in Rome, before returning to Sicily in 1605, where he would produce numerous paintings, destined for the main Sicilian centres, such as Syracuse, Messina, or Palermo.
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