Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2015 Meet the Masters: Highlights from the Scottish National Gallery
Domenichino: The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1607-10
Dr Christopher Allen
18/19 March 2015
Lecture summary:
Domenico Zampieri, known as Domenichino, was one of the most important artists of the early seventeenth century in Rome; he was among Annibale Carracci’s closest assistants in the painting of the Galleria Farnese and in later commissions, and of all his pupils the most faithful heir of his master’s style. He was highly respected by Poussin and later the most important critic of the age, Bellori, but suffered all his life from the jealousy of rivals, who complained that he was slow and unsuited to what we now call the baroque style of opulent decoration. He was particularly the target of a sustained campaign by his rival and fellow Carracci alumnus Lanfranco, who accused him of plagiarizing the idea of his great Last Communion of Saint Jerome. Later, when he went to Naples to undertake one of the biggest and most lucrative commissions of his day, he was subjected to vicious tactics by a cabal of local painters who had already driven Guido Reni out of town.
The Adoration of the Shepherds in Edinburgh is a youthful work, painted around the time of Annibale’s death and before his most famous commissions, but it already displays many of the characteristics of Domenichino’s style, in particular his overriding concern for the expression of the feelings of the participants in the scene.
Slide list: NB – all works by Domenichino unless otherwise specified
1. Self-portrait at about 30, c. 1610-12 2. Domenichino, after drawing by Annibale Carracci, Lady and the Unicorn, 1602 Rome, Palazzo Farnese 3. The Lamentation, 1603, oil on copper, 53 x 37.5 cm, New York, Metropolitan 4. The Death of Adonis, c. 1603-04, fresco, Palazzo Farnese 5. Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi, c. 1621, York, City Art Gallery 6. Liberation of Saint Peter, 1604, oil on canvas, Rome, San Pietro in Vincoli 7. Frescoes of Saint Jerome, Rome, Courtyard of Sant’Onofrio 8. Moses and the burning bush, c. 1610-16, oil on copper, 45.1 x 34 cm, New York, Metropolitan 9. Tobias and the Angel, 1610-13, oil on copper, 45.1 x 33.9 cm, London, National Gallery 10. The Flagellation of Saint Andrew, 1608-1609, fresco, Rome, San Gregorio Magno 11. The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1607-10, oil on canvas, 143 x 115 cm, Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland 12. The Charity of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi 13. Saint Cecilia refuses to worship the pagan gods, c. 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi
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14. The Martrydom of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi 15. The Apotheosis of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi 16. The Angel crowns Sts Cecilia and Valerian, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi 17. The Last Communion of Saint Jerome, 1614, oil on canvas, 419 x 256 cm, Vatican Museum 18. The Flaying of Marsyas, 1616-18, fresco from Villa Aldobrandini, London, National Gallery 19. Apollo and Daphne, 1616-18, fresco transferred to canvas and mounted on board, 311.8 cm x 189.2 cm, London, National Gallery 20. The Hunt of Diana, 1617, oil on canvas, Rome, Galleria Borghese 21. The Evangelist Saint John (with eagle), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle 22. Saint Luke (with ox), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle 23. Saint Mark (with lion), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle 24. Saint Matthew (with Angel), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle 25. Flagellation of Saint Andrew, 1624-28, fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle 26. Agostino Carracci, Last Communion of Saint Jerome, 1592 27. Peter Paul Rubens, The Last Communion of St Francis, 1619, oil on canvas, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schonen Kunsten 28. Christ receives San Gennaro into heaven, pendentive fresco, Naples, Cappella del Tesoro 29. San Gennaro assumes the protection of the city of Naples, pendentive fresco, Naples, Cappella del Tesoro 30. Christ receives the prayers of San Gennaro and other saints on behalf of the people of Naples 31. At the intercession of the Virgin, Christ releases the sword with which he was about to punish the city of Naples
Reference:
Christopher Allen, ed., Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy, De Arte Graphica, 1668. Geneva: Droz, 2005.
G.B. Bellori, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et. architteti moderni, scritte da Gio. Pietro Bellori. Parte Prima. … Rome, Mascardi, 1672.
Elizabeth Cropper, The Domenichino Affair. Novelty, Imitation and theft in seventeenth- century Rome. New Haven and London, 2005.
Sir Denis Mahon, Studies in Seicento art and theory. London, 1947
Peter Robb, Streetfight in Naples, Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 2010
Richard E. Spear, Domenichino, 2 vols, New Haven and London, 1982
For access to all past lecture notes visit: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/meet-the-masters/