.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The year 2026 marks the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, an important event for the Catholic Church and an occasion to celebrate the values of simplicity, peace, fraternity and love of nature embodied by the saint.
As many other artists throughout the centuries, the Bolognese mannerist painter and etcher Camillo Procaccini was drawn to Saint Francis and painted him several times, although most of these paintings are now lost. Two drawings of the subject exist: one in the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery (Austin, Texas; inv. no. 1987.17) and one at the Uffizi (Florence; inv. no. 1499F).
The composition of this large etching shows the influence of slightly earlier versions of prints by Procaccini's contemporaries, such as Agostino Carracci (Bartsch 68) and Federico Barocci (Bartsch 3). It is however very much imbued with Procaccini's delicate yet rough and expressive vitality. As a result of his swift line, bold use of plate tone and many wiping marks and other plate impurities creating a rich and varied surface texture, his best prints, including the present Saint Francis, have an immediacy rarely matched by other printmakers of his time.
The sheet bears a Sun watermark, recorded by Briquet in Reggio Emilia and dated around 1589. Procaccini worked on the frescoes of the Basilica della Ghiara in Reggio Emilia just before moving to Milan, where the present etching was created.
The print is very rare and has to our knowledge not been offered auction within the last thirty years.
As many other artists throughout the centuries, the Bolognese mannerist painter and etcher Camillo Procaccini was drawn to Saint Francis and painted him several times, although most of these paintings are now lost. Two drawings of the subject exist: one in the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery (Austin, Texas; inv. no. 1987.17) and one at the Uffizi (Florence; inv. no. 1499F).
The composition of this large etching shows the influence of slightly earlier versions of prints by Procaccini's contemporaries, such as Agostino Carracci (Bartsch 68) and Federico Barocci (Bartsch 3). It is however very much imbued with Procaccini's delicate yet rough and expressive vitality. As a result of his swift line, bold use of plate tone and many wiping marks and other plate impurities creating a rich and varied surface texture, his best prints, including the present Saint Francis, have an immediacy rarely matched by other printmakers of his time.
The sheet bears a Sun watermark, recorded by Briquet in Reggio Emilia and dated around 1589. Procaccini worked on the frescoes of the Basilica della Ghiara in Reggio Emilia just before moving to Milan, where the present etching was created.
The print is very rare and has to our knowledge not been offered auction within the last thirty years.