Jacopo Chimenti, called Jacopo da Empoli
Adam and Eve with Cain and Abel
Oil on panel. 98.1 x 75.6 cm.
This rather unusual pictorial motif showing the first "family" after their expulsion from paradise is based on Florentine prototypes of the early sixteenth century, namely the works of Fra Bartolomeo and Bacchiacca (active 1494-1557). Bacchiacca's "Eve with Cain and Abel" in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, created around 1516-1518, is the direct model for our painting. His work in turn was based on Perugino's "Apollo and Daphnis" in the Musée du Louvre - Perugino was Bacchiacca's teacher.
The celebrated painter and draughtsman Jacopo Chimenti, called Jacopo da Empoli, spent his whole life in Florence. Accordingly, his artistic style draws heavily on the Renaissance and Mannerist painting of that city. Besides Bacciacca, Pontormo was an important source of inspiration for him, whose influence is particularly evident in the typology of the figures in our painting.
A drawing by Jacopo da Empoli showing our subject was sold at Sotheby's London on 5th July, 2000.
Provenance
Collection of the author and art critic Richard Buckle . - 1951 Colnaghe, London. - Acquired there and subsequently housed in a private collection in Santiago de Chile.
Literature
G. Cantelli: Repertorio della pittura fiorentina del seicento, Florence 1983. p. 41, illus. 112. - A. Marabottini: Jacopo di Chimenti da Empoli, Rome 1988, p. 46, 182, no. 13, illus. 13.