Madonna Enthroned With St Matthew (Annibale Carracci) on:
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''Madonna and Child with Saints'' is a 1588 oil on canvas painting by 
The work shows a stronger Venetian influence than any of the artist's earlier works and its precise dating allows art historians to date his study trip to Venice to 1587-1588. One clear influence on its composition is
File:Correggio, Madonna di San Sebastiano.jpg, Correggio, ''
''Madonna and Child with Saints'' is a 1588 oil on canvas painting by Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...
, now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. Signed and dated by the artist (''HANNIBAL CARRACTIVS BON. F. MDLXXXVIII''), it is also known as ''Madonna and Child with Saints Francis, Matthew and John the Baptist'', ''Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saint Matthew'' and the St Matthew Madonna.
It was originally produced as an altarpiece for the merchants' chapel in the basilica of San Prospero
San Prospero ( Carpigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) ...
in Reggio Emilia
Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
, one of several works the artist produced whilst in the city in the 1580s and 1590s. It then entered the Este collections in Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
, from which it was sold in 1746 as part of the Dresden sale to Augustus III, taking it to its present home.
The work shows a stronger Venetian influence than any of the artist's earlier works and its precise dating allows art historians to date his study trip to Venice to 1587-1588. One clear influence on its composition is Paolo Veronese
Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...
's ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
The mystical marriage of Saint Catherine (or "Mystic") covers two different subjects in Christian art arising from visions received by either Catherine of Alexandria or Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), in which these virgin saints went through a ...
'', from which it borrows its diagonals, the position of the Madonna and saints and the red drape hanging from columns. Donald Posner, ''Annibale Carracci: A Study in the reform of Italian Painting around 1590'', op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 44-45. Carracci did not entirely reject his previous style, however, and so these lessons from Veronese are translated into a less otherworldly idiom, closer to the viewer's lived experience - Carracci opts for a glimpse of a landscape background rather than the celestial blue of so many of Veronese's works and the saints humbly clothed and standing on bare earth rather than the richly-dressed figures on stairs in Veronese's work.
Gallery
San Sebastiano Madonna
The San Sebastiano Madonna is an oil on canvas painting by Correggio, dating to around 1524 and now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. It measures 265 by 161 cm.
It was commissioned by the confraternity of Saint Sebastian (''S ...
'', circa 1524, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
File:Madonna in trono con Bambino e santi - Passarotti.jpg, Bartolomeo Passarotti
Bartolomeo Passarotti or Passerotti (1529–1592) was an Italian painter of the mannerist period, who worked mainly in his native Bologna. His family name is also spelled Passerotti or Passarotto.
Life and work
From approximately 1550 to 1555, h ...
, ''Madonna and Child with Saints'', 1560-65, basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna
File:Studio san Giovanni - Annibale Carracci.jpg, Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...
, Study for the figure of St John the Baptist, 1588, British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London
File:Studio Gesù Bambino - Annibale Carracci.jpg, Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...
, Study for the figure of the Christ Child, 1588, Uffizi, Florence
References