Pasquale CHIESA (Genoese artist active in Rome... Lot 40

Pasquale CHIESA (Genoese artist active in Rome circa 1645-1651) The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew Canvas The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, canvas 244 x 169.5 cm - 96 x 663/4 in. PROVENANCE Private collection, Barcelona, as Jusepe de Ribera. EXHIBITION El arte de las Naciones, El Barroco como arte global, Museo Internacional de Puebla, México, October 15, 2016- January 30, 2017. Of Genoese origin, but mainly documented as active in Rome, Pasquale Chiesa probably worked temporarily in Naples, as evidenced by his close ties to Jusepe de Ribera and Salvator Rosa. He is best known for his large paintings commissioned by Roman notables such as Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Paolo Falconieri and prestigious collectors such as Camillo Pamphilij. The Doria-Pamphilj Gallery in Rome still holds a Penitent Magdalene and a Sacrifice of Isaac. Other works by him are listed in Palazzo Barberini, on the art market or in private collections. Our painting is one of the artist's most important in terms of size. It is probably an as yet unidentified altarpiece. Although inspired by the paintings by Ribera (Barcelona, MNAC) and Rosa (Harrach Collection, Vienna) on the same subject, our composition differs from them in the movement given by its X-shaped organisation and its great monumentality. One has the impression that everything is going to start turning like a mill. It would be difficult to find a better illustration of the definition of the Baroque as formulated by Heinrich Wölfflin in his Fundamental Principles of Art History in 1915: a centrifugal composition opening outwards from the centre (whereas it is centripetal, closed in the case of a classic like Poussin). The authorship of this painting to Pasquale Chiesa has been confirmed by Professor Andrea de Marchi and Professor Anna Orlando.