Carlo Saraceni, an emerging old master
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “San Bennone retrieves the keys to the city of Meissen”, detail – Rome, Church of Santa Maria dell’Anima
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “San Bennone retrieves the keys to the city of Meissen”, – Rome, Church of Santa Maria dell’Anima
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Exposition of the Holy Nail with St. Carlo Borromeo”, detail – Rome, Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Exposition of the Holy Nail with St. Carlo Borromeo”, – Rome, Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, detail – Monteporzio Catone, Sacro Eremo Camaldolese Tuscolano
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” – Monteporzio Catone, Sacro Eremo Camaldolese Tuscolano
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Madonna and Child with Saint Anne”, detail – Rome, National Gallery of Ancient Art of Rome, Palazzo Barberini
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Madonna and Child with Saint Anne” – Rome, National Gallery of Ancient Art of Rome, Palazzo Barberini
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- Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 1620), “Martyrdom of Saint Lambert” – Rome, Church of Santa Maria dell’Anima
Carlo Saraceni was born in Venice around 1579, worked in Rome from circa 1598 to 1619 and died in Venice in 1620. He was a famous and successful painter who achieved the highest quality in both large altarpieces and tasteful little works. His paintings were commissioned and promoted by the leading ecclesiastical and aristocratic patrons of his time (Aldobrandini, Farnese, Borghese, Lancellotti, Pignatelli, Del Monte, Gonzaga, Gualdo, Rondinini, Orsini, Sacchetti, Sannesio, Contarini and several religious orders). The co-author and co-ordinator of the frescos in the Sala Regia in the Quirinale Palace, he is closely related to the lively artistic scene – primarily in the style of Caravaggio – of the early seventeenth-century Rome, while also maintaining documented international relations with Spain, France and Germany.
The first monographic exhibition dedicated to the artist, “Carlo Saraceni, a Venetian between Rome and Europe” at the Museo Nazionale of Palazzo Venezia, Rome until March 2, curated by Maria Giulia Aurigemma, comprises a large number of works that illustrate the painter’s European scope, the role he played in Rome in the first two decades of the seventeenth century as well as his elegant style.
We don’t know much about his training in Venice, but his manner of applying colours and of veiling seem to remind to that of Bellini, Giorgione and Lotto. It also shows a familiarity with the composition of Bassano and Palma il Giovane.
January 14, 2014
