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Lot Essay
Though not included in the Bible, the mourning over the body of Abel appears in the several of the Biblical Apocrypha which were popularly widespread in the seventeenth century. Orazio de Ferrari, who spent the majority of his career in Genoa painted a number of versions of the subject. Two of these appear to be copies, with slight variations, of the present composition made in Ferrari’s studio. Another picture, with a slightly more complex arrangement of figures, presenting Adam no longer in prayer but with his arms outspread, leaning over the body of his son, is now preserved in a private collection in Milan (Orlando, op.cit., p. 80, no. 5).
The subject was painted twice by the Neapolitan painter, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, called Battistello (1578–1635), an important follower of Caravaggio in the city, once as a vertical canvas (now in a private collection) and another using a horizontal canvas (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte), which bears a number of similarities to Ferrari’s work. The dark background of the scene with the figures illuminated in a strongly accented light, casting deep shadows in some areas, is similar in both. Likewise, both painters heavily foreshortened the body of Abel as a means of creating a greater depth within the composition, though, of course, Ferrari choses to present Abel with his head closest to the viewer, thus heightening the dramatic and emotional intensity of the scene. Though the life of Orazio de Ferrari is only intermittently documented, it is believed that he visited Naples sometime toward the end of the 1630s, after which his paintings begin to show a clear knowledge of the naturalist, Caravaggesque manner prevalent in the city.
The subject was painted twice by the Neapolitan painter, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, called Battistello (1578–1635), an important follower of Caravaggio in the city, once as a vertical canvas (now in a private collection) and another using a horizontal canvas (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte), which bears a number of similarities to Ferrari’s work. The dark background of the scene with the figures illuminated in a strongly accented light, casting deep shadows in some areas, is similar in both. Likewise, both painters heavily foreshortened the body of Abel as a means of creating a greater depth within the composition, though, of course, Ferrari choses to present Abel with his head closest to the viewer, thus heightening the dramatic and emotional intensity of the scene. Though the life of Orazio de Ferrari is only intermittently documented, it is believed that he visited Naples sometime toward the end of the 1630s, after which his paintings begin to show a clear knowledge of the naturalist, Caravaggesque manner prevalent in the city.