VENITIAN SCHOOL circa 1370, entourage of LORENZO VENEZIANO - Lot 3

Lot 3
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Estimation :
15000 - 20000 EUR
Result : NC
VENITIAN SCHOOL circa 1370, entourage of LORENZO VENEZIANO - Lot 3
VENITIAN SCHOOL circa 1370, entourage of LORENZO VENEZIANO Saint Francis receiving the stigmata Devotional panel. Egg painting and gold ground on rectangular wood panel surrounded by a modern gilded wood frame. Vertical thread. 16.5 x 13 cm panel only Provenance: Albin Chalandon (1809-1885) collection, Parcieux, Ain. Always remained in the family. Standing out against the golden background, in front of an imposing rocky mass from which emerges a simple chapel, separated in two by a ravine dotted with sparse vegetation, St. Francis appears on the left, dressed in the Franciscan frock, slit on the side and tightened at the waist by the three-knot rope, symbol of the vows taken by the brothers entering the community. Kneeling on the ground, bare feet, arms outstretched, head raised, the saint receives the stigmata of Christ through the rays emanating from the seraph hovering in the sky. On the right, seated on the ground, Brother Léon abandons his reading to watch in amazement. The scene of the miracle that took place in the Apennine valley of Verna in 1224, in the presence of Brother Léon, was recounted by Saint Bonaventure in his Legenda Maior (1260-1263). Around 1295-1298, Giotto illustrated it in Assisi, in the upper church of the Basilica of San Francesco, and shortly afterwards used it again, with variations, in the altarpiece of the church of San Francesco in Pisa (Paris, Musée du Louvre). This model was soon disseminated through drawings. This painting, which is particularly close to the works of Lorenzo Veneziano (documented in Venice from 1357 to 1372) in terms of its presentation and quality of execution, should be seen in the context of Venetian pictorial production. The luminous contrast sculpting the plastic accents of the bodies and the mountainous relief, as well as the strongly marked shadows accentuating the features of the faces, are still linked to the Byzantine tradition advocated in Venice by Paolo Veneziano (circa 1300-1358/62), Lorenzo's master. The execution of our panel reveals a personal artist. The serene, resigned expression of the saint accepting Christ's suffering contrasts with Brother Leon's human reaction of surprise. The artist endeavors to make the scene more natural, depicting the particularly severe site of steep mountains separated by a vertiginous ravine, from which emerge a rare vegetation of wild grasses and trees with compact, geometrical foliage. These features can be compared with Lorenzo Veneziano's Traditio Clavium altarpiece, shared between Venice (Museo Correr) and Berlin, dated 1369 in the Venetian style, but in fact 1370. The episodes in this predella betray a sensitive personality with realistic accents, a natural expressiveness and a real gift for observation. (cf. M.Boskovits, Fruhe italienische Malerei, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin 1988, p.101-103, repr. ; C. Guarnieri, Lorenzo Veneziano, Milan 2006, cat.35, 36 a-h) Like the scenes on this predella, depicting the Martyrdom of St. Peter or the Vocation of St. Peter and St. Andrew, the artist responsible for our panel displays the same narrative verve and description of nature, even if a more incisive, sharper execution of the line and a stronger luminous accent set him apart somewhat. These elements allow us to place the execution of our panel around 1370, probably at the same time as the creation of the altarpiece cited by Lorenzo Veneziano, and to attribute it to an artist working in the entourage of this master. Condition: The panel has been cut to size and a thin strip of wood added to each of the four sides. In the absence of any material evidence, it is difficult to state with certainty the original purpose of this panel. Pictorial surface and gold background: wear and restoration, particularly on the vegetation and the seraph.
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