Jacob's Journey
Canvas
130x100 inch
The painting illustrates an episode in the story of Jacob, his journey back to Canaan with his family as told in Genesis (XXVXXXIII),
the first book of the Bible. The composition is organized in a frieze, around
of Jacob and Rachel, then of Lea, and the procession of those who accompany them is only a pretext to deploy a caravan of animals and colorful characters. The influence of the Cavalier d'Arpin frescoes is visible in the choice of bright colours: the pink, blue and red of certain garments in tones close to those of the composition representing The discovery of the wolf with Romulus and Remus of the Hall of Horatii and Curiati
(Rome, Palazzo dei Conservatori). The lesson of Pietro da Cortona is rather recognizable in the treatment of figures and faces, with small heads with round and dark eyes as in the frescoes of Palazzo Mattei in Rome (Cfr. Solomon and the queen
of Saba). Several attributions have been put forward for this painting which was given previously to the Cavalier d'Arpino, to Pietro da Cortona (Zeri) or to a painter active in Rome at the beginning of the XNUMXth century (Schleier). It was returned by Ursula Fischer Pace to one of the painters active at Palazzo Mattei, Marco Tullio Montagna, to whom we owe the decoration around five windows with landscapes, grotesques and
four episodes of the story of Sansom and the Sacrifice of Manué. Originally from Velletri near Rome, probably born in 1594, Marco Tullio Montagna arrived in the city of the Popes before 1616 (date of his marriage) and entered the Accademia di san Luca in 1617. Known above all as a painter of frescoes, his major work was the decoration of the Oratory of Saint Giuseppe dei Falegnami in the Roman forum (1631-1637).
A certificate from Professor Ursula Fischer Pace will be given to the purchaser.
Full Description