Sermon Of Saint John The Baptist, Lorenzo Pasinelli (1629 - 1700)

Lorenzo Pasinelli (Bologna, 1629 - 1700) 

Sermon of Saint John the Baptist  Circa 1650.  

Oil on canvas 115 x 154 cm With frame 136 x 174 cm  

Provenance Milan, Porro 6 June 2006 oil on canvas, 115×154 cm, lot 67 Estimate €30,000-35,000 (link)  

Published work: F. Moro, Emilia Pittrice: tracce d'un percorso di studi, in Emilia Pittrice. Dipinti e disegni bolognesi del XVII secolo, exhibition catalogue, Paris Galerie Tarantino, 2007, pp. 34-38, ill. 25   

The canvas depicts an episode from the Gospel of Luke (3:1-18) and illustrates the moment when John the Baptist is preaching in the Judean desert, announcing the coming of the Messiah and inviting those present to convert for the forgiveness of their sins.  

In a clearing, in the shade of some trees and close to a hilly area along the banks of the Jordan, the young precursor of Christ is seated on a rock in an oratorical position and with a majestic bearing, his right arm raised towards the crowd listening and wondering about his words.  

A powerful figure with great emotional impact, drawing crowds to listen to his strong and free words, he is depicted in a solemn gesture that seems almost to admonish those present.  

The viewer's eye is drawn to the multitude of characters crowding the scene around the evangelist, dressed in a variety of styles that differentiate the social classes, occupations and wealth of those present. The detail of some of the figures wearing turbans is fascinating, helping to create an exotic and almost profane vision of the sacred scene.  

The canvas was recognised by Dr Franco Moro as the work of the Bolognese artist Lorenzo Pasinelli (Bologna, 1629 - 1700) and published by him in his book ‘Emilia Pittrice. Dipinti e disegni bolognesi del XVII secolo' on the occasion of the exhibition held in Paris at the Galerie Tarantino in 2007 (pp. 34-38, ill. 25, see images in the photographic details).  

In his in-depth study, Dr Moro places the work in Pasinelli's early period, dating it to around 1650, when the Bolognese artist's links with his first teacher, Simone Cantarini (Pesaro, 1612 - Verona, 1648), who in turn was influenced by Guido Reni, are most evident, but with the personal autonomy of a more fluid and relaxed style, tempered by the severe harshness of the early 17th century.  

Cantarini's influence is clearly evident in the style and types of the large group of people attending the sermon, characterised by a full brushwork and the use of strongly accentuated chiaroscuro, which are also present in Jesus Entering Jerusalem in the Bolognese church of San Gerolamo della Certosa 

It should also be noted that the figure of the Baptist is almost certainly inspired by Guido Reni's prototype in the L. Vitetti Collection, Rome which is also found in St. John Preaching, probably left unfinished by Cantarini (Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale, https://catalogo. fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/56939/) and in St. John Preaching, painted by Guercino in 1650 for the Church of the Rosary in Cento and preserved in the local art gallery 

Typical of Pasinelli's repertoire are the images of women cloaked and depicted with turbans in fluid brushstrokes and warm tones, such as the Sibyl (no. 32, pp. 226-227) or the Fainting of Esther (no. 33, p. 228) and together with the affectionate intimacy between mother and child, as in the Woman Breastfeeding (no. 3, pp. 161-163), the Madonna and Child with a Saint (no. 6, pp. 166-167) and in drawings on this theme (pp. 176-177).  

Pasinelli returned to the same subject thirty years later, painting a large ‘Predica del Battista’ (Sermon of John the Baptist) in 1686 for the Prince of Lippe, which is still in a private collection (C Baroncini, 1993, pp. 281-284), with a looser and more mature style, which nevertheless shows similarities and links with the canvas in question, and a more 18th-century atmosphere.   
 

Ref: F81RODLIWC