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Lot Essay
The present painting was commissioned by Abbot Christoph Balbus for the Benedictine Abbey church at Schwarzach. Built by Balthasar Neumann, it was one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Germany, although it was later destroyed between 1824-1841.
Unlike his contemporaries who patronised local artists, Balbus chose to decorate the abbey with paintings from the Venetian school. In 1746, he acquired Giambattista Piazzetta's Adoration of the Shepherds (formerly Wurzburg Cathedral, destroyed in 1945) to hang in the fourth chapel on the left and in 1753 he commissioned Gaimbattista Tiepolo's Adoration of the Magi, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, to hang above the main altar. By the time Gian Domenico had left for Venice the following year, he had been commissioned to paint an altarpiece as a pendant to his father's picture, although the subject had yet to be determined. In a letter dated February 1, 1754, Gian Domenico, openly asks for details about the subject and dimensions of the work he had committed to (see the catalogue of the exhibition Miniature, Libri, Autografi e Disegni, Libreria antiquaria Hoepli, Milan, 1962, no. 21). On February 14, the Abbot answered saying that the altarpiece should portray Saint Stephen's Martyrdom as described in chapter VII of The Acts of the Apostles and listed all the details to be included: Christ's apparition, the moment the saint passed away and the persecutor's rage.
Gian Domenico scrupulously followed these instructions and the resulting canvas was his most ambitious and dramatic work to date, marking a major leap forward in his development. While he re-used motifs such as the angel swooping downwards holding the palm and crown of martyrdom and Saint Stephen's outstretched hands, both borrowed directly from Giambattista's Martyrdom of Saint John of Bergamo (Duomo, Bergamo), in other respects, Gian Domenico's work differs markedly from that of his father. For the sake of dramatic impact, he placed the monumental figures in the immediate foreground and increased the level of pathos in the gestures and facial expressions to the highest level of intensity.
Soon after he had completed the painting, Gian Domenico made an etching based on the picture. For a long time this was the sole surviving record of the altarpiece, which following the demolition of the Schwarzach abbey, remained lost until 1978, when it was rediscovered in the storeroom of the Gemäldegalerie, East Berlin.
Unlike his contemporaries who patronised local artists, Balbus chose to decorate the abbey with paintings from the Venetian school. In 1746, he acquired Giambattista Piazzetta's Adoration of the Shepherds (formerly Wurzburg Cathedral, destroyed in 1945) to hang in the fourth chapel on the left and in 1753 he commissioned Gaimbattista Tiepolo's Adoration of the Magi, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, to hang above the main altar. By the time Gian Domenico had left for Venice the following year, he had been commissioned to paint an altarpiece as a pendant to his father's picture, although the subject had yet to be determined. In a letter dated February 1, 1754, Gian Domenico, openly asks for details about the subject and dimensions of the work he had committed to (see the catalogue of the exhibition Miniature, Libri, Autografi e Disegni, Libreria antiquaria Hoepli, Milan, 1962, no. 21). On February 14, the Abbot answered saying that the altarpiece should portray Saint Stephen's Martyrdom as described in chapter VII of The Acts of the Apostles and listed all the details to be included: Christ's apparition, the moment the saint passed away and the persecutor's rage.
Gian Domenico scrupulously followed these instructions and the resulting canvas was his most ambitious and dramatic work to date, marking a major leap forward in his development. While he re-used motifs such as the angel swooping downwards holding the palm and crown of martyrdom and Saint Stephen's outstretched hands, both borrowed directly from Giambattista's Martyrdom of Saint John of Bergamo (Duomo, Bergamo), in other respects, Gian Domenico's work differs markedly from that of his father. For the sake of dramatic impact, he placed the monumental figures in the immediate foreground and increased the level of pathos in the gestures and facial expressions to the highest level of intensity.
Soon after he had completed the painting, Gian Domenico made an etching based on the picture. For a long time this was the sole surviving record of the altarpiece, which following the demolition of the Schwarzach abbey, remained lost until 1978, when it was rediscovered in the storeroom of the Gemäldegalerie, East Berlin.