Description
Jacopo Negretti known as Palma the Younger attr.
Venice 1549 – Venice 1628
Pietà
Oil on canvas
cm 85.5x114
The painting dates back to the early 17th century and, due to its stylistic characteristics, can be attributed to the work of Palma the Younger. The artist addressed the subject several times, as evidenced in Stefania Mason Rinaldi's catalogue raisonné. Among the related works, we can mention the Pietà kept in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Parre (Mason Rinaldi 1984, cat. 209, fig. 734) and the one in Würzburg (Mason Rinaldi 1984, cat. 613, fig. 672), both made with a scenic composition similar to that of our painting.
Analyzing the canvas in question, the hand of Palma the Younger clearly emerges, not only for the drawing and compositional structure, but also for the pictorial style and the dense and gloomy atmosphere that characterizes it. The light, of a twilight nature, seems to caress the figures, transforming the colors and giving the work an evocative quality. The refined and skilled application of color reveals the influence of the Bassano school, evident in the glaze passages, in the precious pigments and in the quick layers that define the draperies and blur the figures.
These distinctive features suggest a dating to the second decade of the 17th century, close to other works by the artist, such as the Pietà kept in the Duomo of Reggio Emilia (1612) and the Lamentation from a private Venetian collection (Mason Rinaldi, 1984, cat. 569, fig. 760).
The painting is accompanied by:
Expertise Prof. Ferdinando Arisi
Expertise Prof. Rodolfo Pallucchini
Dimensions
cm 85.5x114
Provenance
Private collection
Bibliography
S. Mason Rinaldi, Palma il Giovane. L'opera completa, Milan 1984, ad vocem
S. Mason Rinaldi, Palma il Giovane 1548-1628. Disegni e dipinti, exhibition catalog, Milan 1990, pp. 232-233, n. 101
Condition
Defects. Recent restoration.
