Christ Bound

Painted on black stone, this poignant Christ Bound by Alessandro Turchi was first published by Massimo Pulini, who described it as ‘certainly one of the most intimate works to have come out of the Veronese artist's brush, in which the somber support establishes a refined dialogue with the painted shadows, moving in and out of the pictorial perimeter and matching the sadness of the face’ [‘certamente una delle opere più intime uscite dal pennello del veronese, nella quale il cupo supporto instaura un raffinato dialogo con le ombre dipinte, entrando e uscendo dal perimetro pittorico e intonandosi con la mestizia del volto’; M. Pulini, loc. cit.] Turchi’s elegant style, synthesizing Venetian grandeur with Roman classicism and Caravaggesque naturalism, resulted in some of the most captivating and sensual images of the period.

Turchi’s nickname, ‘Orbetto’ (the diminutive of orbo, meaning ‘blind man’), was likely adopted posthumously in the second half of the 1600s. The name probably derives from his early assistance to his father, described in the 1595 Verona tax census as ‘cecus mendicans olim spatarius’ (‘blind, dependent on alms, formerly a sword-maker’). Turchi’s predilection for working on unusaul supports such as slate, stone, and copper likely developed during his time in Brusasorci’s studio. Fellow pupils Pasquale Ottino and Marcantonio Bassetti, with whom Turchi later traveled to Rome, also specialized in these exquisite media.

We are grateful to Professor Mattia Vinco for endorsing the attribution to Alessandro Turchi on the basis of digital images.