Bernardo Strozzi - The Vision of Saint Francis - image-1

Lot 1029 Dα

Bernardo Strozzi - The Vision of Saint Francis

Auction 1141 - overview Cologne
16.11.2019, 11:00 - Paintings and Drawings 15th - 19th C.
Estimate: 130.000 € - 200.000 €
Result: 148.800 € (incl. premium)

Bernardo Strozzi

The Vision of Saint Francis

Oil on canvas. 122 x 84.5 cm.

According to his early biographers, whilst praying on Mount Verna, Saint Francis became privy to a vision of a seraph with six wings with its arms outstretched in the manner of Christ on the cross. The artists of the 16th and 17th centuries frequently depicted this scene illuminated by bright light emanating from the seraphic figure and accentuating the saint's stigmata, his wonder, and his ecstasy.
Bernardo Strozzi, a Capuchin monk, painted numerous versions of this stigmatisation of Saint Francis. The prototype for this image is thought to be his composition in the Palazzo Rosso in Genoa. The image was especially popular during the time of the Counter Reformation, and it was during this period that the skull was added to the scene as a symbol of the transience of earthly life. For artists it also provided a welcome opportunity to display their skills as still life painters.

Provenance

Roman private collection. - By descent to an English private collection.

Literature

L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, De Luca 1966, p. 168, illus. 41. - L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, De Luca 1995, no. 25. III.