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Lot Essay
This is an early modello for the altarpiece of the Madonna del Popolo, now in the Uffizi, painted between 1575 and 1579 for the chapel of the Pia Confraternit dei Laici di Santa Maria della Misericordia in the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve at Arezzo.
The circumstances of the commission and the many events surrounding its execution are recorded in a long series of letters and a contract dated 18 June 1575, which Edmund Pillsbury discovered and published in 1978. Such rich archival evidence makes the Madonna del Popolo one of the best documented works by the master.
Giorgio Vasari was, in his lifetime, the most illustrious citizen of Arezzo, his native city. Naturally he was the architect chosen by the Confraternity to build their chapel. On his death in 1574, however, he had not yet painted the altarpiece. Upon the advice of the city's ambassador in Florence, Nofri Rosselli, the name of Barocci was proposed. The choice of such an artist may have puzzled some because Barocci's reputation at that time did not extend much beyond the Marches. Yet, the decision can be easily explained by the very Franciscan nature of that Confraternity: the cult of the Madonna della Misericordia was traditionally associated with the Order of Saint Francis and so was Barocci himself. The artist had taken his vows as a Capuchin of the Third Order in 1566 and thus joined as a layman the ranks of one of the most popular and newly created branches of the Order of Saint Francis. Founded in 1528 by Pope Clement VII, the Capuchin Order later attracted other artists such as Bernardo Strozzi, known as il Prete Genovese.
The many difficulties which dogged the execution of the picture have greatly overshadowed research into its iconography. Attention shifted from an analysis of the picture to the history of the events surrounding its completion. It was partly due to the general dissatisfaction of the Confraternity with the altarpiece after it was discovered that the panel had cracked when installed in 1579.
Barocci, however, had lavished great care on the preparation of the work. Eight months after he signed the contract he wrote a letter, dated 10 February 1576, in which he stated that he had completed all the drawings and a small cartoon, which Bellori called a disegno compito, most probably the present drawing. The difficulty Barocci encountered in his search for proper wood to construct the panel gave the artist an unusually long period of time to prepare and develop his composition. This may explain the painterly finish of the present modello and the refinement of its execution which anticipated the work Barocci could not yet accomplish on the panel itself. It explains as well the striking number of individual studies for that composition which have survived in the Barocci corpus of known works: more than ninety, now mostly in Berlin and the Uffizi.
Once Barocci started work on the actual panel in June 1576, the composition changed. The differences between the modello and the altarpiece are most revealing of the iconographical complexities involved. The clarity in the disposition of the figures within the modello was severely altered within the final composition. It is mostly in the lower part of the composition in which the Six Works of Mercy are depicted that iconographical problems appeared.
In the modello, a sharp recession into depth clearly divides two groups of figures, one of women and children on the left, one of men, mostly members of the Confraternity, on the right. The kneeling mother on the right, the blind musician on the left and the half naked beggar in the center give dramatic tension and allegorical undertones to the composition. The Six Works of Mercy are traditionally tending to the hungry (1), the thirsty (2), the stranger (3), the naked (4), the sick (5) and the prisoner (6). All six deeds are depicted in the far distance of the background in the modello: a man hands a bottle (2), another a basket of bread (1), to prisoners behind prison bars (6). A kneeling pilgrim (3), his left arm in a sling (5) and a man carrying a bundle of clothes on his back (4) completes the cycle.
The eight Rectors of the Confraternity are gathered under the shadow cast by the apparition of the Virgin and receive from an angel the statutes of their association. The Holy Spirit clearly descends upon them as a reward for their charitable deeds. In gratitude, the Rectors offer thanks to God, kneeling, kissing the ground and reading prayers from their breviary.
The altarpiece (fig. 1) lacks the dramatic impact of the modello's clearly delineated composition. The presence of putti supporting the Virgin reduces the strong contrast which existed in the modello between the heavenly and earthly spheres. The perspective into the distance of the composition is now blocked by two kneeling Rectors placed beside the group of women on the left, while the initial group of Rectors on the right is totally erased. That group is replaced by a standing woman who receives alms from a young prince. The naked man in the foreground helplessly extends his hand, but does not receive alms. The hurdy-gurdy player, who already in the present modello had been cut out and lowered about an inch, no longer bathed in the miraculous light of the apparition, is cast in shadow, bending his head down and revealing to the spectator the blind eyes of a street beggar. The light has shifted from the group on the right to that of the kneeling children whose mother now points at the Holy Spirit. Such radical changes alter the mood of the picture which from a buoyant glorification of the Works of Mercy switches to a less ordered depiction of a world no longer rewarded for its deeds but upon which the Virgin of Mercy takes pity.
The upper part of the modello is colored. A pink hue radiates from Christ and the Virgin. Only the naked beggar and the Rector giving alms below benefit from the pearl gray monochrome light which transmutes itself into pink in heaven. According to their degree of importance within the composition, each figure is either sketched or worked up to a degree of perfection which culminates in Christ's glowing apparition against a luminous sky. Such painterly technique adapted to the drawing of a modello is far from being just an artist's device to give greater life and drama to its composition. To Barocci who was a Capuchin, the creation of a composition was an intensely religious experience which took its origin from the various exercises of meditation devised by the Church. From the Middle Ages the Franciscan Order tried to make accessible to lay members of society the benefits of mysticism. In the 14th Century Fra Hugo da Prato in his Trattati and later in the 16th Century Luis de Granada in the Book of Prayers and Meditation and Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises encouraged the aspiring mystic to create within his mind images which through the various stages of meditation would develop into a full vision. Barocci's most glorious achievement in the eyes of the Church was his painting of the Visitation in Santa Maria in Vallicella in front of which Saint Filippo Neri, the founder of the Oratory, experienced a vision. His power of contemplation springing from the Franciscan tradition of prayer allowed him to use Barocci's masterpiece as a support to his meditation and led him to levitate in front of the canvas. Thus Barocci revealed himself the heir of a tradition of mysticism as well as a champion of the Counter- Reformation. Facing the alarming progress of the Reformation, often prone to iconoclasm, the Roman Church tried to reinforce the worship of images. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) emphasized the necessity to impress the mind of worshippers with the clarity of compositions which would re-establish the evidence of the Faith.
Barocci's immediate sense of realism, conveyed with such religious fervour and great technical virtuosity, came in sharp contrast to the esoteric complexity in which most mannerist artists were still entangled. Barocci developed a new rhetoric of images which later fascinated Sir Peter Paul Rubens, always searching for new means to convey his own vigorous political allegories. A well balanced composition such as the Madonna del Popolo became a standard reference point for most artists of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Taken outside its religious context, the present modello retains rhetorical power which artists like William Hogarth tried to analyse for its own sake. In his Analysis of Beauty of 1752, Hogarth advanced the theory that the essential quality found in the composition of most masterpieces is that of the Serpentine line, which is also called - perhaps with a lingering sense of religiosity attached to it - The line of grace, running through the composition and giving unity to the various elements. Examination of Barocci's modello proves Hogarth's point. Throughtout the sheet the Serpentine line is apparent, starting with the kneeling mother who looks down at her child witnessing the beggar receiving alms, while the blind hurdy-gurdy player turns his head up to the Virgin interceding on behalf of the charitable crowd below her, and Christ above blesses the scene.
The circumstances of the commission and the many events surrounding its execution are recorded in a long series of letters and a contract dated 18 June 1575, which Edmund Pillsbury discovered and published in 1978. Such rich archival evidence makes the Madonna del Popolo one of the best documented works by the master.
Giorgio Vasari was, in his lifetime, the most illustrious citizen of Arezzo, his native city. Naturally he was the architect chosen by the Confraternity to build their chapel. On his death in 1574, however, he had not yet painted the altarpiece. Upon the advice of the city's ambassador in Florence, Nofri Rosselli, the name of Barocci was proposed. The choice of such an artist may have puzzled some because Barocci's reputation at that time did not extend much beyond the Marches. Yet, the decision can be easily explained by the very Franciscan nature of that Confraternity: the cult of the Madonna della Misericordia was traditionally associated with the Order of Saint Francis and so was Barocci himself. The artist had taken his vows as a Capuchin of the Third Order in 1566 and thus joined as a layman the ranks of one of the most popular and newly created branches of the Order of Saint Francis. Founded in 1528 by Pope Clement VII, the Capuchin Order later attracted other artists such as Bernardo Strozzi, known as il Prete Genovese.
The many difficulties which dogged the execution of the picture have greatly overshadowed research into its iconography. Attention shifted from an analysis of the picture to the history of the events surrounding its completion. It was partly due to the general dissatisfaction of the Confraternity with the altarpiece after it was discovered that the panel had cracked when installed in 1579.
Barocci, however, had lavished great care on the preparation of the work. Eight months after he signed the contract he wrote a letter, dated 10 February 1576, in which he stated that he had completed all the drawings and a small cartoon, which Bellori called a disegno compito, most probably the present drawing. The difficulty Barocci encountered in his search for proper wood to construct the panel gave the artist an unusually long period of time to prepare and develop his composition. This may explain the painterly finish of the present modello and the refinement of its execution which anticipated the work Barocci could not yet accomplish on the panel itself. It explains as well the striking number of individual studies for that composition which have survived in the Barocci corpus of known works: more than ninety, now mostly in Berlin and the Uffizi.
Once Barocci started work on the actual panel in June 1576, the composition changed. The differences between the modello and the altarpiece are most revealing of the iconographical complexities involved. The clarity in the disposition of the figures within the modello was severely altered within the final composition. It is mostly in the lower part of the composition in which the Six Works of Mercy are depicted that iconographical problems appeared.
In the modello, a sharp recession into depth clearly divides two groups of figures, one of women and children on the left, one of men, mostly members of the Confraternity, on the right. The kneeling mother on the right, the blind musician on the left and the half naked beggar in the center give dramatic tension and allegorical undertones to the composition. The Six Works of Mercy are traditionally tending to the hungry (1), the thirsty (2), the stranger (3), the naked (4), the sick (5) and the prisoner (6). All six deeds are depicted in the far distance of the background in the modello: a man hands a bottle (2), another a basket of bread (1), to prisoners behind prison bars (6). A kneeling pilgrim (3), his left arm in a sling (5) and a man carrying a bundle of clothes on his back (4) completes the cycle.
The eight Rectors of the Confraternity are gathered under the shadow cast by the apparition of the Virgin and receive from an angel the statutes of their association. The Holy Spirit clearly descends upon them as a reward for their charitable deeds. In gratitude, the Rectors offer thanks to God, kneeling, kissing the ground and reading prayers from their breviary.
The altarpiece (fig. 1) lacks the dramatic impact of the modello's clearly delineated composition. The presence of putti supporting the Virgin reduces the strong contrast which existed in the modello between the heavenly and earthly spheres. The perspective into the distance of the composition is now blocked by two kneeling Rectors placed beside the group of women on the left, while the initial group of Rectors on the right is totally erased. That group is replaced by a standing woman who receives alms from a young prince. The naked man in the foreground helplessly extends his hand, but does not receive alms. The hurdy-gurdy player, who already in the present modello had been cut out and lowered about an inch, no longer bathed in the miraculous light of the apparition, is cast in shadow, bending his head down and revealing to the spectator the blind eyes of a street beggar. The light has shifted from the group on the right to that of the kneeling children whose mother now points at the Holy Spirit. Such radical changes alter the mood of the picture which from a buoyant glorification of the Works of Mercy switches to a less ordered depiction of a world no longer rewarded for its deeds but upon which the Virgin of Mercy takes pity.
The upper part of the modello is colored. A pink hue radiates from Christ and the Virgin. Only the naked beggar and the Rector giving alms below benefit from the pearl gray monochrome light which transmutes itself into pink in heaven. According to their degree of importance within the composition, each figure is either sketched or worked up to a degree of perfection which culminates in Christ's glowing apparition against a luminous sky. Such painterly technique adapted to the drawing of a modello is far from being just an artist's device to give greater life and drama to its composition. To Barocci who was a Capuchin, the creation of a composition was an intensely religious experience which took its origin from the various exercises of meditation devised by the Church. From the Middle Ages the Franciscan Order tried to make accessible to lay members of society the benefits of mysticism. In the 14th Century Fra Hugo da Prato in his Trattati and later in the 16th Century Luis de Granada in the Book of Prayers and Meditation and Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises encouraged the aspiring mystic to create within his mind images which through the various stages of meditation would develop into a full vision. Barocci's most glorious achievement in the eyes of the Church was his painting of the Visitation in Santa Maria in Vallicella in front of which Saint Filippo Neri, the founder of the Oratory, experienced a vision. His power of contemplation springing from the Franciscan tradition of prayer allowed him to use Barocci's masterpiece as a support to his meditation and led him to levitate in front of the canvas. Thus Barocci revealed himself the heir of a tradition of mysticism as well as a champion of the Counter- Reformation. Facing the alarming progress of the Reformation, often prone to iconoclasm, the Roman Church tried to reinforce the worship of images. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) emphasized the necessity to impress the mind of worshippers with the clarity of compositions which would re-establish the evidence of the Faith.
Barocci's immediate sense of realism, conveyed with such religious fervour and great technical virtuosity, came in sharp contrast to the esoteric complexity in which most mannerist artists were still entangled. Barocci developed a new rhetoric of images which later fascinated Sir Peter Paul Rubens, always searching for new means to convey his own vigorous political allegories. A well balanced composition such as the Madonna del Popolo became a standard reference point for most artists of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Taken outside its religious context, the present modello retains rhetorical power which artists like William Hogarth tried to analyse for its own sake. In his Analysis of Beauty of 1752, Hogarth advanced the theory that the essential quality found in the composition of most masterpieces is that of the Serpentine line, which is also called - perhaps with a lingering sense of religiosity attached to it - The line of grace, running through the composition and giving unity to the various elements. Examination of Barocci's modello proves Hogarth's point. Throughtout the sheet the Serpentine line is apparent, starting with the kneeling mother who looks down at her child witnessing the beggar receiving alms, while the blind hurdy-gurdy player turns his head up to the Virgin interceding on behalf of the charitable crowd below her, and Christ above blesses the scene.