Skip to main content

Domenichino

Domenico zampieri, la sibilla persica 2
The Persian Sybil, 1600's

Domenico Zampieri was born October 21, 1581 in Bologna. A student of the Accademia degli Incamminati he would work in Rome with Annibale Carracci in Rome on the Farnese frescoes. His career would be defined by his work with not only paintings but ceilings and frescoes. Nicknamed Domenichino for his short height, he was also known as Il Bue (the ox) for his stubbornness and disciplined work methods. Although not a well-known figure in the Baroque it is his use of color and the way he painted women in particular that makes Domenichino unique. His rivalry with former collegue Giovanni Lanfranco would greatly upset him over the years, eventually bringing him to work in Naples where he could work without needless comparison to him.

The Persian Sybil demonstrates his particular genius for painting women. Draped in vivid blue and red with traces of yellow, Domenichino's effortless grace and strong face of this lovely woman is mesmerizing. Note the muted highlights on the drapery. The headdress is striking also. Domenichino gives us a contemporary portrait of the Italian woman in his day, real and idealized at the same time, strong yet very feminine.








Last Communion, 1614

This poignant Baroque painting, arranged in a very tight vertical composition, depicts the last communion of St. Jerome from Saint Ephrem. Kissing the hand of St. Jerome is Saint Paula of Rome, who helped him translate the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin as she was well-versed in Hebrew. Considered a masterpiece in its time, rivalled only by Raphael's Transfiguration, Domenichino uses not only chiaroscuro but vibrant color and dramatic facial expressions. Note the influence of Da Vinci in the delicate rendering of the angels above.






2872-saint-agnes-domenichino
Saint Agnes, ca.1620


Domenichino portrays the saint of young girls and chastity with a luxurious grace and dignity not normally bestowed upon a saint. Her drapery has such an ornate fringing and her color palette of warm colors is intriguing. Domenichino's architectural setting helps frame the subject and gives a warmth to the painting. The urn to her left is especially striking. Note the foreshortened angel that crowns her.





Domenichino adam eve
Adam and Eve, ca.1625

Taking direct inspiration from Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, he creates the theme of God and his angels as Divine Brain or Intelligence, staring down towards the innocence of Eve and Adam who shrugs toward his female counterpart. Note the headless angels floating near God. This painting has a comical, cartoony quality to it, as if the story in Genesis was apocryphal even in the time of Domenichino. It is hard to believe that this is the very same painter of the above examples, and I am not sure at all who commissioned this or why it was painted in this way. It is interesting, though.







Domenichino - Portrait of a Young Man - WGA06401
Portrait of a Young Man, 1603

A distinguished portrait that shows what Domenichino could do with a limited palette and an elegant pose. Some believe this might be a self-portrait of Domenichino in his early twenties, but here this young man is tall and has no indication of being an artist. It is a portrait about confidence and self-assuredness.




A sample of Domenichino's work from the ceiling of Sant Andrea Della Valle in Rome




Domenichino is another painter that is difficult to define because of his varied styles and approaches to his subjects much like Luca Giordano, but his talents were evident and showcase an artist who made the mundane appear more beautiful and made women as important as men in portraiture.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Orazio Riminaldi

Samson defeats Philistines, 1625 A painter from Pisa, Orazio Riminaldi was a Baroque tenebrist born in 1586 on September 5th. Riminaldi was unfortunately one of many painters who died young, in his case from the plague in 1630, but it is what he accomplished in those brief years that merits attention. Riminaldi's expressive faces and body language, along with superb skin tones and dramatic skies, take his art to a deeper level than some his contemporaries, who were perhaps more cautious in their techniques. Look at the fury of the scene above. It is quite rare in painting to see a pile of bodies with a warrior like Samson no less, stepping on top of one while grabbing the hair of another. And yet Riminaldi manages to make it look majestic and noble. The anatomy of the figures shows foreshortening combined with Caravaggio's chiaroscuro in a tight yet carefully arranged composition. By making it vertical, in a triangular design, it heightens the sense of drama while requi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bouguereau

Nymphs and Satyr, 1873 If there is one artist today that hardly needs an introduction, it would be William-Adolphe Bouguereau , supreme giant of 19th century Academic art. Born on November 30, 1825 in La Rochelle on the southwest of France, his talent would define the era he lived in only to fall into obscurity for decades after his death in 1905 until as recent as the early 1980's, shockingly. Today he has the distinction of being lionized by the Art Renewal Center as one of the greatest artists of all time while at the other end of the spectrum vilified by modernists as artificially perfect and sentimental. In fact it is quite rare to see such polarization over an artist of a calibre like Bouguereau, whose bravura is difficult to equal yet at the same time thematically his work admittedly tends toward women and children, a subject matter that sold well and he had endless patience for. Over the vast array of his oeuvre, some 820 paintings, I have tried to fi...
3 comments
Read more

Carl Holsøe, Master of Rooms

The Artist's Wife sitting at a Window in a sunlit Room, ca.1900 Carl Vilhelm Holsøe was born on the 12 of March, 1863 in northeast Denmark. Holsøe studied in Copenhagen and under the Danish Master Peder Krøyer . Unlike many painters who worked outdoors and favored the majestic landscapes of their environment, Holsøe chose the psychological mood of the domestic interior and the way light spills into rooms. Although Holsøe is often compared to his contemporary and friend, Vilhelm Hammershøi , Holsøe is more authentic and less vacant emotionally. His use of sunlight captures the mindfulness of the moment in a way that is reminiscent of Dutch Masters, utilizing the power of quiet and reading as emotionally satisfying and tranquil. In the painting above, his wife sits in a kitchen chair looking out the window. On the table are cups of tea and a teapot that Holsøe gently lights the rims. The drapes are of a texture so thick it almost seems like pastel. Look at the greenish reflect...
Post a Comment
Read more