Circle of Giuseppe Mazzuoli called il Bastarolo (Ferrara 1536 - 1589)
Saint Jerome Penitent in the Grotto
Oil on copper - 23 x 18 cm. - in frame 28 x 24 cm.
Notes: On the back of the copper plate, a red wax seal with the monogram MM is impressed.
Complete artwork details: https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/it/prodotto/scuola-ferrarese-della-fine-del-cinquecento-san-girolamo
This representation of Saint Jerome Penitent, with a still 16th-century taste, due to its coloristic evidence and plastic treatment of the figurative dimension, can be placed within the work of a Ferrarese artist active at the end of the 16th century. The Saint is depicted half-length with his typical iconographic attributes: the crucifix to which he directs his adoration, the skull symbol of penance on his left hand resting on a closed book, and finally the stone he holds with his right hand.
Depicted three-quarters length, with a long beard and hair, Saint Jerome occupies the foreground, evoking in particular the period of hardship and solitude spent in the desert. The long, disheveled hair and the downward gaze convey the sense of an icon of faith that ignites religious devotion and invites spiritual reflection and repentance.
The stylistic characteristics of our copper plate would lead us to attribute paternity to an artist in the circle of Giuseppe Mazzuoli, called il Bastarolo (Ferrara 1536 - 1589), whose pictorial lexicon is indeed based on the Ferrarese figurative tradition, from which derive the bright and vivid colors and intense naturalism, and on the knowledge ofEmilian and Venetian painting.
It should be considered that the 1570s and 1580s marked the period of greatest fame for Mazzuoli, whose painting showed a progressive orientation towards simplified compositions, which gathered the Counter-Reformation demands of the changed religious climate in Ferrara and thus the particular needs of commissions.
Such characteristics can be observed in the work in question, analogous to the artist's mature works.
Work in excellent condition. Antique frame, not coeval.
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Painting accompanied by a legal photographic certificate of authenticity (FIMA)
