Giovanni Domenico Ferretti
God Reproving Cain for the Murder of Abel, (Florence, 1692 – Florence, 1768)
The pendant Adamo is at the Ermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg.
Provenance
England Christopher Norris; Private Collection New York
Exhibitions
Fomitcheva T. 1959 Un tableau de D. Ferretti recemment identifier in «Bullettin du Musée de l’Hermitage» 15, pp. 34/35 (in russo);
Ewald G., Some Unpublished Works by Giovan Domenico Ferretti, in “Apollo”, LXXXVIII, pp. 278/289;
Maison d’Art Antiquaria SA in Dipinti italiani di antichi maestri, catalogo della mostra, 1993, pp.121/128;
Francesca Baldassari in Giovanni Domenico Ferretti, 2002, pp. 185/187, ill. p. 186 no.150. Il pendant Adamo si dispera per la caduta dell’uomo, olio su tela, 76 x 64 cm si trova al Museo Hermitage di San Pietroburgo.
Literature
Fomitcheva T. 1959, Un tableau de D. Ferretti recemment identifier in «Bullettin du Musée de l’Hermitage» 15, pp. 34/35; Ewald G., Some Unpublished Works by Giovan Domenico Ferretti, in “Apollo”, LXXXVIII, pp. 278/289;
Maison d’Art Antiquaria SA in Dipinti italiani di antichi maestri, exh. cat., 1993, pp.21-24; Francesca Baldassari in Giovanni Domenico Ferretti, 2002, pp. 185/187, ill. p. 186 no.150.
In the picture presented here, datable to 1740, one can see the strong sculptural presence of the nude, the desire for dramatic effects, and the warm luminosity that animates the figures which derive from elements in Venetian painting, particularly Sebastiano Ricci. Perhaps such Venetian treatment of light was indirectly transmitted by his Emilian masters. Mindful of the teachings of Giuseppe Maria Crespi, the warm timbre and sfumato of the colors contribute to this most admired phase of Ferretti, creating figures which function within a firm compositional control, appearing almost sculpted in wax. The same model is used for the figure of Abel found, among others, in Jason with the Golden Fleece and in the Triumph of Hercules in the Palazzo Chigi-Sansedoni, both datable to 1745. The figure of God in God Reproving Cain is very close to that of Moses in the picture of Moses with the Bronze Serpent (Private Collection), a work similar in composition to the picture presented here. Signed and dated 1736, the Moses with the Bronze Serpent reveals, above all, a picture evolving in the direction of the style adopted in the God Reproving Cain for the Murder of Abel which appears clearly later and is relatedto the manner of the decoration of the Palazzo Chigi-Sansedoni in Siena.
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