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Antoniazzo Romano (Rome before 1452-1508/12)

Saint Francis of Assisi

Details

Antoniazzo Romano (Rome before 1452-1508/12)
Saint Francis of Assisi
tempera and gold on panel, transferred to panel
63 1/8 x 23½ in. (160.2 x 59.6 cm.)
inscribed 'CLEMENS.BRIGAI S.DE.COLVNNA' (lower edge)

Provenance

Commissioned c. 1477 by Clemente Brigante Colonna (d. 1481) for the Cappella di San Francesco, Santa Maria Maggiore, Tivoli, whence transferred in the late 19th century to the private chapel of the Brigante Colonna family palace, Tivoli.
with Constantini, Florence, by c. 1901, from whom acquired c. 1909 by
Dan Fellows Platt (1873-1937), Englewood, New Jersey.
with Wildenstein, London and New York.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 9 July 2003, lot 78 (£94,850), where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

Fra C. da Roma, Memorie Istoriche delle Chiese e Conventi dei Frati Minori della Provincia Romana, Rome, 1744, pp. 353-354.
F.A. Sebastiani, Viaggio a Tivoli antichissima città latino-sabina fatto nel 1825, Foligno, 1828, p. 36.
F. Bulgarini, Notizie storiche antiquarie statistiche agronomiche, intorno all'antichissima città di Tivole e il suo territori, Rome, 1848, p. 77, as Anonymous, 15th Century.
F. Gori, Viaggio pittorico-antiquario da Roma a Tivoli e Subiaco sino alla famosa grotta di Colleparto descritto la prima volta, Rome, 1848, p. 77, as Anonymous, 15th Century.
R. del Re, Tivoli e i suoi monumenti antichi e moderni, Rome, 1886, p. 32, as Anonymous.
F.M. Perkins, 'Dipinti italiani nelle raccolte americane', Rassegna d'arte umbra, X, 1910, p. 100.
F.M. Perkins, 'Tre dipinti di Antoniazzo Romano', Rassegna d'arte, 1911, XI, p. 36, note 1.
F.M. Perkins, 'Dipinti italiani della raccolta Platt', Rassegna d'arte, 1911, p. 6.
J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, New York, 1914, V, p. 280, note 1.
S. Reinach, Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la renaissance, Paris, 1923, VI, p. 45.
Fogg Art Museum: Collecion of Mediaeval and Renaissance Paintings, Cambridge, Mass., 1927, p. 157.
R. Longhi, 'In favore di Antoniazzo Romano', Vita artistica, II, 1927, p. 233.
B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Oxford, 1932, p. 26.
R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Paintings, The Hague, 1934, XV, p. 254.
B. Berenson, Pitture italiane del rinascimento, Milan, 1936, p. 22. B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central and North Italian Schools, London, 1968, I, p. 15.
G.D. Noehles, Antoniazzo Romano, Ph.D. dissertation, unpublished, Westfälischen Wilhelms Universität, Munster, 1973, no. 58, fig. 49B.
B. Nicolson, 'Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: Helikon Gallery', Burlington Magazine, CXVI, July 1974, p. 418, fig. 73.
G.S. Hedberg, 'Antoniazzo Romano and his School', Ph.D. dissertation, unpublished, New York University, 1980, I, pp. 34, 87 note 161, 168, no. 19; II, fig. 20.
R. Cannatà in Un'Antologia di restauri, Rome, 1982, p. 32 note 13.
B. Forastieri, 'Un S. Francesco "Tiburtino", Antoniazzo Romano e la committenzo Colonna', Alma Roma, XXX, no. 1/2, January-April 1991, pp. 3-15.
A. Cavallaro, Antoniazzo Romano e gli Antoniazzeschi: Una generazione di pittori nella Roma del Quattrocento, Udine, 1992, pp. 68, pl. XXI, 189-190, no. 14, 316, fig. 31.
A. Paolucci, Antoniazzo Romano: Catologo completo dei dipinti, Florence, 1992, p. 87, no. 22.

Exhibited

New York, Wildenstein, Italian Paintings, 1947, no. 36.
Charlotte, North Carolina, Mint Museum of Art, 14 September-12 December 1956, on loan.
London, Wildenstein, Paintings by Rembrandt, Boucher, Cezanne, Hals, Guardi, Gauguin and Others, 17 June-1 August 1959, no. 13.
London, Helikon, Exhibition of Old Masters, June-September 1974 (catalogue by G. Algranti).

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Lot Essay

This imposing depiction of Saint Francis of Assisi is a rare and important work by Antonio di Benedetto Aquilio, called Antoniazzo Romano, the leading painter in Rome during the later 15th century. One of the founders of the Compagnia di San Luca, the painters' guild of Rome, his earliest documented works date to the mid-1460s and demonstrate a vigorous plasticity and luminosity that recall the art of Fra Angelico and his pupil, Benozzo Gozzoli, both of whom had worked in the Eternal City as well. Antoniazzo's art also reflects the innovations of Piero della Francesca and the influence of Melozzo da Forli, with whom he collaborated in 1480. Around that time, Antoniazzo studied the work of Domenico Ghirlandaio, then engaged on the decorations of the Sistine chapel, and himself undertook prestigious commissions in the Vatican palace and in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, the latter to commemorate the Holy Year of 1500.

The present painting is one of very few by the artist for which the identity of the original patron is known. As attested by the coat-of-arms and inscription at the lower edge, the picture was made for Clemente Brigante Colonna, a leading citizen of Tivoli and a member of the powerful Colonna family of Rome. The earliest mention of the Saint Francis is in 1744, when it was recorded as hanging in the first chapel on the right in the Franciscan church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Tivoli. This chapel was ceded to Clemente in 1477 and rededicated to Saint Francis, and it is likely that the present work was commissioned around this time in honor of the chapel's new spiritual protector. Indeed the blond tonalities, crisp lines, and graceful pose of the figure in the present picture relate it to Antoniazzo's other works of the 1470s, in which the influence of Verrocchio is apparent.

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