Monday, September 11, 2017

Last Gasp of Religious Scene-painting in Europe

Gaspare Diziani
Assumption of the Virgin
ca. 1734-40
oil on canvas
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Sebastiano Conca
Holy Family with St Anne, St John the Baptist, Zacharias
1723
oil on canvas
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

Carlo Innocenzo Carlone
Glorification of St Felix and St Adauctus
ca. 1759
oil on canvas
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

St. Felix and St. Adauctus – Martyrs at Rome, 303, under Diocletian and Maximian.  The Acts, first published in Ado's Martyrology, relate as follows:  Felix, a Roman priest, and brother of another priest, also named Felix, being ordered to offer sacrifice to the gods, was brought by the prefect Dracus to the temples of Serapis, Mercury and Diana.  But at the prayer of the saint the idols fell shattered to the ground.  He was then led to execution.  On the way an unknown person joined him, professed himself a Christian, and also received the crown of martyrdom.  The Christians gave him the name Adauctus ("added").  These Acts are considered a legendary embellishment of a misunderstood inscription by Pope Damasus.  A Dracus cannot be found among the prefects of Rome; the other Felix of the legend is St. Felix of Nola; and Felix of Monte Pincio is the same Felix honored on the Garden Hill.  The brother is imaginary.  Their veneration, however, is very old; they are commemorated in the Sacramentary of Gregory the Great and in the ancient martyrologies. 

– from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1914)

François Boucher
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
1757
oil on canvas
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Marcantonio Franceschini
Christ and the Woman of Samaria
ca. 1700
oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Marcantonio Franceschini
Noli mi tangere
ca. 1700
oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Benjamin West
Isaac's servant tying the bracelet on Rebecca's arm
1775
oil on canvas
Yale Center for British Art

John Linnell
The Prophet Balaam and the Angel
1859
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts Houston

"And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.  And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.  Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.  And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.  But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.  And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or the left.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she feel down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.  And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thous hast smitten me these three times?  And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.  And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?  was I ever wont to do so unto thee?  And he said, Nay.  Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.  And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?  behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.  And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again."

– from the book of Numbers, chapter 22, as printed in the Authorized or King James Version of the Bible (1611)

Eugène Delacroix
St Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross
1829
oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Solomon Joseph Solomon
Samson
ca. 1887
oil on canvas
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Gustave Moreau
Jacob and the Angel
ca. 1874-78
oil on canvas
Harvard Art Museums

Gustave Moreau
The Infant Moses
ca. 1876-79
oil on canvas
Harvard Art Museums

Edward Burne-Jones
Star of Bethlehem
ca. 1885-90
watercolor, body-color 
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Joaquín Sorolla
Kissing the Relic
1893
oil on canvas
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao