Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Cesare Dandini (Florence 1596 - Florence 1657) workshop of
Ecce Homo
Oil on oval canvas
72 x 60 cm.
in frame 88 x 75 cm.
Provenance: Lempertz Cologne, as Cesare Dandini, Lot 1445 (URL: https://www.lempertz.com/en/catalogues/lot/1057-1/1445-cesare-dandini.html)
The proposed canvas, the work of a 17th century Tuscan painter, shows the image of Christ portrayed according to the iconography of Ecce Homo, stripped of his clothes in anticipation of his immediate crucifixion on Golgotha
... Jesus came forth, bearing the crown of thorns. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man’. On seeing him, the chief priests and thugs cried out, ‘Crucify him, crucify him’’ (Gospel of John 19:5).
This type of representation, called Ecce Homo and which, as mentioned, is placed before the moment of his Crucifixion, became widespread in the 16th century, giving rise to particularly intense creations.
In our case, the figure of Christ is shown half-length, with the crown of thorns resting on his long hair and a reed sceptre in his hand, both symbols of the kingship conferred on him by the soldiers, as a sign of mockery towards the one who had proclaimed himself the King of Kings. His hands are tied by a rope and his shoulders covered with a richly draped cloak, which stands out in iridescent red.
The image reconciles the remarkable spiritual strength of Christ in his moment of human suffering with a refined elegance, supported by the superb descriptive capacity of the face, and an elegant colouristic rendering, rich in precious glazed effects.
The work bears a traditional attribution to the Florentine artist Cesare Dandini (Florence, 1596 - Florence, 1657), which we scrupulously take into consideration, even though it is linked to his workshop.
We find the particular creative vivacity and consonance with the great Florentine schools of painting, which Dandini learnt thanks to his heterogeneous education in the workshops of Francesco Curradi, Cristofano Allori and Domenico Cresti.
Of no little importance, however, was his study trip to Rome and the influence of Guido Reni, whose examples Dandini moulded on Francesco Furini's models, thus achieving results of extraordinary elegance.
In the canvas transpires the author's ability to show not only the physical, but also the psychological description of Christ who, looking upwards, appears physically and emotionally exhausted and suffering. With regard to our version, it is a work realised with a pictorial precision of an excellent level, with an extraordinary expressive force, such that it can be easily attributed to the workshop of the master without hesitation.
Delevery information :
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Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
