ANTONIO MARINETTI known as 'il Chiozzotto' (Chioggia, 1719-Venice, 1796)
Saint Francis in ecstasy
oil on canvas, 46x36
provenance: antique market
Artist who began his activity in Piazzetta's workshop, making his own way of rendering chiaroscuro and elaborating his own stylistic signature in the rendering of figures that appear well defined in mystical expressiveness. In this canvas, certainly intended for private devotion, Saint Francis, in a position of transport towards the Holy Spirit who appears to him, rests on a boulder well rendered by vigorous brushstrokes where the skull, the book, the stick and a basket are highlighted: a small still life that characterizes the entire composition. Marinetti devoted himself exclusively to devotional painting for private and ecclesiastical commissions, there are numerous altarpieces in the churches of Veneto, in private collections and in museums.
Bibliography: R. Pallucchini, Painting in Veneto, the Eighteenth Century, Volume Two, pp. 190-195
