Orazio Borgianni, 1574–1616 Lot n° 33

Orazio Borgianni, born in Rome, was trained by his brother Giulio Borgianni. He grew up painting under the pontificate of Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590). In 1593 he went to Sicily and then spent several years in Spain until he returned to Rome in 1606 and met the Caravaggism that shaped him. Its most productive phase was between 1605 and 1616. Under a dramatic cloudy sky, the giant Christophorus crosses the course of the river in a wild mountain landscape, the little Jesus child on his shoulders, who is getting heavier and heavier than the world, as Christophorus says to the child. This replied to him that he had borne not only the world, but also the creator of the world (Legenda aurea). The dialogue between the two is expressed in the turns of the head and the touching gesture of the baby Jesus, who puts his hand on the giant's head. Orazio Borgiannis has painted the figures in bright colors and gives Christophorus a dynamic physical expressiveness that reveals determination and willpower to the viewer and reminds one of the examples of Titian's fresco from 1524 in the Doge's Palace in Venice. Borgianni's creative and expressive way of painting with his mystical color tone and the speaking emotional world rightly show that Oriazio Borgianni is one of the best Roman painters of his time. Orazio Borgianni composed the composition of St. Christophorus repeated several times (see report by A. Delpriori). According to A. Delpriori, several versions are considered to be autographs: The painting in the National Gallery Edinburgh, from a private collection auctioned at Christie's (paintings and sculptures by old masters, online, 2-19 June 2020, lot no. 34), an in an English private collection and above all a large altarpiece in Spain, in Gelves near Seville. There is also an etching after the composition, made by Giovanni Giacomo de Rubeo (copy among others in the British Museum), after which copies were made. While the previously known authentic versions are ni