Saturday, March 9, 2019

Francesco Cozza (1605-1682) - Rome

Francesco Cozza
Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness
1665
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Francesco Cozza
Triumph of the Blessed Juan de Sahugún
before 1660
drawing
British Museum

Francesco Cozza
Sketch for Tobias and the Angel
before 1665
oil on canvas
private collection

Francesco Cozza
Sibilla
before 1665
oil on canvas
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

"Born in Stilo, in Calabria, in 1605, Francesco Cozza was a student of Domenichino in Rome and in Naples, initially active in the master's atelier working after drawings.  He was later independently active, chiefly in Rome, as well as in Naples and in Perugia and other central Italian cities.  . . .  Among the direct followers of Domenichino, Cozza was certainly the most conscientious and the most individual.  . . .  His almost archaistic style has an affinity with Giacinto Gimignani, but especially with Sassoferrato.  Problems of chiaroscuro did not interest him; his works are, rather, painterly in terms of their uniform, clear luminosity; the individual, carefully chosen colors stand out distinctly, without transitional tonalities or shadings, but not harsh in effect against one another.  His strength lies in his draftsmanship; special attention  is devoted to the study of drapery folds, in the careful and finely sensitive rendering of which his principal charm lies.  He preferred simple, severe scenes and arranged his pictures along strong vertical and horizontal lines, almost totally without use of curves or diagonals.  The facial expressions of his figures usually show little animation; movement and gestures are restrained and with a certain degree of tranquil apathy.  . . .  Having become subject to melancholy after the death of his first wife in 1661, he was thereafter largely inactive until his death in 1682."

– Hermann Voss, from Baroque Painting in Rome (1925), revised and translated by Thomas Pelzel (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1997)

Francesco Cozza
Flight into Egypt
before 1660
oil on canvas
Convento di Sant'Angelo in Pescheria, Rome

Francesco Cozza
St Francis with Musical Angel
before 1665
oil on canvas
Palazzo Arnone, Cosenza

Francesco Cozza
Madonna and Child
ca. 1630-40
oil on canvas
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Francesco Cozza
St John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness
before 1665
oil on canvas
Palazzo Barberini, Rome

Francesco Cozza
Urania, or, Allegory of Astronomy
ca. 1660-70
oil on canvas
Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro

Francesco Cozza
Figure of Music
ca. 1660-70
oil on copper
Glasgow Museums

Francesco Cozza
Penitent Magdalen in a Landscape
ca. 1650
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Francesco Cozza
Penitent St Peter
ca. 1650
etching
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Francesco Cozza
Virgin and sleeping Christ Child watched over by Angels
ca. 1650
etching
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Francesco Cozza
Madonna del Riscatto
before 1665
oil on canvas
Pontificio Collegio Nepomuceno, Rome