拍品專文
This hitherto unpublished picture is an important addition to the catalogue of paintings by Il Morazzone, whose work rarely appears on the market and who is known primarily for his important fresco cycles at the Sacri Monti of Varese, Varallo and Orta. Hugh Brigstocke, who has confirmed the attribution to Il Morazzone, has suggested that from the stylistic evidence this undocumented picture would appear to be relatively early in date, perhaps from circa 1608-12, more or less contemporary with Il Morazzone's documented work in the Cappella della Flagellazione at Varese of circa 1608 (see Mina Gregori, catalogue of the exhibition, Il Morazzone, Varese, 14 July-14 Oct. 1962, pp. 44-6, no. 13, pls. 49-62) and at the Collegiata of San Bartolomeo at Borgomanero (ibid., pp. 60-1, nos. 30-1, pls. 90-4) or circa 1611-12. Further comparison with Morazzone's oil paintings of this period, in particular the Magdalen with Angels, and its predella of Christ in the Garden, from the church of San Vittore, Varese (ibid., pp. 58-9, nos. 27-8, pls. 88-9), also points to a date circa 1610 for the present picture. The most distinctive features of this Agony in the Garden, the golden tresses of the angel's hair, the tense expressive poses of Christ and the angel, the detailed highlights of the landscape background with meticulous treatment of rocks and plants, and the relaxed naturalism of the sleeping apostles in the foreground are all qualities to be found in Il Morazzone's work of this period.
Il Morazzone's early style reflects the strong influence of Gaudenzio Ferrari who himself painted a celebrated Agony in the Garden as part of a cycle for the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, Varallo (see L. Mallè, Incontri con Gaudenzio, Turin, 1969, pl. 55); of Il Cavalier D'Arpino whose frescoes in the Olgiati chapel in S. Prassede, Rome, he may well have seen when in the city to paint frescoes in San Silvestro in Capite; and of both Cerano and G.C. Procaccini, especially their early work in the church of S. Maria presso San Celso in Milan. This link is also apparent through G.C. Procaccini's small canvas of the Agony in the Garden, dating from 1604-6, now in a private collection (see H. Brigstocke in Revue de l'Art, 85, 1989, p. 46, pl. 20) which directly anticipates Il Morazzone's larger and more ambitious conception of the subject. A few years later Il Morazzone painted the Agony in the Garden again, on a small scale, on copper, as part of the Mysteries of the Rosary for S. Vittore, Varese, in a style that reflects a new preoccupation with Caravaggesque chiaroscuro (Gregori, op. cit., pp. 74-5, no. 42, pl. 127b), anticipating the manner of Francesco Cairo who went on to paint numerous pictures of the subject. A picture of the Agony in the Garden now in the Brera, Milan, widely accepted as an early work of Cairo (see the catalogue of the exhibition, Francesco Cairo, Musei Civici di Varese, 10 Oct.-31 Dec. 1983, pp. 86-7, no. 3, illustrated) was formerly attributed to Il Morazzone (G. Testori, catalogue of the exhibition, Manieristi piemontesi e lombardi del XVII secolò, Turin, 1955, no. 26). The discovery of the present picture now places all these related pictures by Gaudenzio Ferrari, G.C. Procaccini and Cairo into a new perspective and confirms the position of Il Morazzone as a seminal figure in the development of early seventeenth-century Lombard painting.
Il Morazzone's early style reflects the strong influence of Gaudenzio Ferrari who himself painted a celebrated Agony in the Garden as part of a cycle for the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, Varallo (see L. Mallè, Incontri con Gaudenzio, Turin, 1969, pl. 55); of Il Cavalier D'Arpino whose frescoes in the Olgiati chapel in S. Prassede, Rome, he may well have seen when in the city to paint frescoes in San Silvestro in Capite; and of both Cerano and G.C. Procaccini, especially their early work in the church of S. Maria presso San Celso in Milan. This link is also apparent through G.C. Procaccini's small canvas of the Agony in the Garden, dating from 1604-6, now in a private collection (see H. Brigstocke in Revue de l'Art, 85, 1989, p. 46, pl. 20) which directly anticipates Il Morazzone's larger and more ambitious conception of the subject. A few years later Il Morazzone painted the Agony in the Garden again, on a small scale, on copper, as part of the Mysteries of the Rosary for S. Vittore, Varese, in a style that reflects a new preoccupation with Caravaggesque chiaroscuro (Gregori, op. cit., pp. 74-5, no. 42, pl. 127b), anticipating the manner of Francesco Cairo who went on to paint numerous pictures of the subject. A picture of the Agony in the Garden now in the Brera, Milan, widely accepted as an early work of Cairo (see the catalogue of the exhibition, Francesco Cairo, Musei Civici di Varese, 10 Oct.-31 Dec. 1983, pp. 86-7, no. 3, illustrated) was formerly attributed to Il Morazzone (G. Testori, catalogue of the exhibition, Manieristi piemontesi e lombardi del XVII secolò, Turin, 1955, no. 26). The discovery of the present picture now places all these related pictures by Gaudenzio Ferrari, G.C. Procaccini and Cairo into a new perspective and confirms the position of Il Morazzone as a seminal figure in the development of early seventeenth-century Lombard painting.