Emilian School, 17th century, Evangelists

Emilian school, 17th century

Evangelists

(4) oval oil on copper, 9 x 11,5 cm

With frame, 12,5 x 15 cm

The four small copper ovals presented here depict the four evangelists Mark, Matthew and John intent on writing the Gospels while Saint Luke is represented with a brush and a palette, as he is considered the patron saint of artists and in particular of painters, as he was the first to paint Marian representations that would later be imitated by the first schools of sacred art in the city of Rome; furthermore, he is the only one to look upwards, as if seeking inspiration for the work he is painting. Other attributes that appear are the lion of Saint Mark and the eagle of Saint John while Saint Matthew is characterized by nothing other than the scriptures he is working on. The gray and opaque background, the metallic colors of the robes draped in rigid folds sculpted by a deep chiaroscuro and the same half-length cut of the evangelists recall the series created by Guido Reni in the two-year period 1620-1621, today preserved at Bob Jones University, in South Carolina. Although the poses and faces are not taken slavishly, the inspiration that the four ovals draw from Reni's lesson is evident, also considering the success that the painter had among his contemporaries and among the artists of the seventeenth century, many of whom studied and took models from his works, among which the series of the four evangelists is considered one of the masterpieces of his maturity. Having identified the Emilian derivation of these figures, we can also frame the period with the first half, or slightly later, of the seventeenth century, or in full Baroque period, as also revealed by the contemporary frames and the oval shape, very widespread and used both in architecture and in the decorative arts during the seventeenth century. The light tones and the fluidity of the application that are found in Reni are here enhanced by the copper support, capable of giving more body and tone to the pictorial medium.