Mary enthroned with child and four saints

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Giovanni Battista Cima, Mary Enthroned with Child and Four Saints
Mary enthroned with child and four saints
Giovanni Battista Cima , 1495-1497
Poplar wood
206 × 135 cm
Gemäldegalerie , Ident-Nr. 2, Berlin

The Enthroned Madonna with Child and Four Saints (also: Boldú Altar ) is an altarpiece by Giovanni Battista Cima (called Cima da Conegliano ) and probably originated from 1495 to 1497 in Venice . Today it is in the permanent exhibition of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin .

The earliest verifiable site is the church of San Michele in Isola on the island of San Michele near Venice. The picture bears the clearly visible artist's signature Joannis baptiste Coneglianesis opus , which is why Cima's authorship is consistently recognized.

description

The upright-format panel consists of glued poplar boards and measures 206 × 136 cm. It is rounded off in a semicircle at the top and today has a narrow, partially gold-plated frame.

It is a depiction of a Madonna and Child who sits on a raised marble throne and is surrounded by four male saints . All figures have a golden nimbus in the form of a very thin circlet around the head. With the four saints this is less visible than with Mary and the child.

The group of figures is set in a rectangular room open to the rear, the architecture of which describes the shape of a chapel or a ciborium . The room is domed and bordered by round arches on pilasters . Two marble steps with a polygonal plan rise in the middle . The artist's signature is on a painted piece of paper on the front of the second step, which emerges illusionistically from the picture space ( trompe-l'œil ). On the second level there are two marble objects that resemble altars: at the front a cylinder, which is decorated with a putto and a garland and is reminiscent of an antique round altar, at the back a rectangular canteen , which rests on Ionic columns . This canteen serves as a pedestal for the Madonna's throne. The throne is made of white and red marble and has a high back. The golden stand with a floral crown, from which the green veil hangs down to the floor, is just as high .

The composition follows the rules of the central perspective , whereby the assumed horizon line is about a fifth of the total height of the picture. The putto on the cylinder marks the position of the vanishing point . The very deep horizon creates a view from below, so that the viewer looks up to the saints and the Madonna as well as into the dome, which is cropped by the upper edge of the picture. The light falls from the front right onto the scene and forms strong light-shadow contrasts throughout the room, but above all in the robes and faces of the figures.

Maria wears a red dress, a white veil and over it a blue cloak that is golden brown on the inside. She holds the standing, naked Christ Child on her right leg and looks a little down to the left. The child has raised the right to a blessing and is looking in the same direction. Mother and child have light eyes and blond hair.

Two saints stand in front of each other on either side of the throne. All are bearded, tonsured, and depicted as older men. You look in different directions, but there are no reciprocated gaze relationships.

The two men in the back are wearing a white monk's habit . The two in front each wear a long-sleeved tunic and a toga draped over the left shoulder ; they are barefoot. Three of the Saints each a book in his hand, while the fourth, who takes the place of rear left, with both hands a bishop's staff holds. The monk in the far right is holding his book with both hands and reading it with his forehead wrinkled and his mouth slightly open. The saint with the crosier at the back left looks sideways at the man in front. This saint is dressed in light blue and golden yellow, holds a bunch of keys in his right hand and turns to the center of the picture. He looks over to the saint standing on the right. This is facing forward and looking to the right out of the picture. He wears a dark green tunic and a light red toga and his right hand is on the pommel of a sword. He is the only one with dark hair, a beard and brows.

Behind the back of the saint rise two narrow pilasters made of light stone with several decorative elements arranged one above the other, including a capital with flowers and volutes and a protruding fighter . These pilasters support the dome, the lower part of which is partially visible. The dome is adorned with a mosaic , which shows figures, camels, a fountain and tendril ornaments on a bright gold background. This mosaic has three visible areas of the picture: the cut dome itself and two hanging gussets , the surfaces of which are formed by the round arches.

A sequence of scenes can be seen in the dome that can be read from left to right. On the left a young man is riding a camel, which is accompanied by another camel and two men with kufiyas . A mountain, indicated by a jagged line, separates the figures from the second scene. This shows another young man bending over a round fountain while two other young men are standing next to it. The taller pulls his arms over his head in a violent movement, the smaller one raises a hand in his direction as if to appease him. The third scene is introduced by a small architecture and shows three men standing around a fourth, larger and bearded man. He is apparently also moving very excitedly, which can be seen from his kinked legs, raised arms and lowered head.

In the two visible hanging spandrels of the mosaic dome there is a medallion with a bust portrait, surrounded by a single-colored, dark tendril pattern. The two men depicted in the medallions hold scrolls and turn to the center of the picture. The one on the left is bearded and has dark hair, while the one on the right is in the form of a youth; he is beardless and has lighter, shorter, and curly hair.

Technology, material and state of preservation

The panel is made of poplar wood , a very common image carrier material in the Italian region , which was still used as an alternative to canvases in Venetian painting at that time . In the area of ​​the dome mosaic, gilding was used to represent the tesserae of the background.

In 2006 the altarpiece was subjected to detailed art-technological examinations. By means of infrared reflectography was found that Mary's cloak with real lapis lazuli - pigment was painted. Furthermore, a complete signature could be detected under the paint layer , which also shows corrections in the design in some places. Some contours have also been defined by incisions in the board. The arch opening was preconstructed with a compass, but the execution of the contour partly deviates from this strict geometric specification.

The condition of the original paint layer is poor, which is sometimes due to the inferior quality of the poplar panel. The color was becoming increasingly detached from it. Today's impression is the result of several restoration measures in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The first demonstrable restoration in 1861 caused extensive abrasion of the paint layer due to excessive cleaning. Only the red-colored surface of Paul's robe remained undamaged, while Peter's light toga, on the other hand, is almost completely destroyed in the original substance.

After the Second World War, the altar panel suffered major damage during transport to the Allied Central Collecting Point in Wiesbaden. After it was returned to Berlin in 1956, the table was consolidated, that is, its condition was saved. During a restoration in 1963, all overpaintings from the 19th century were removed and the condition of the original paint layer was documented for the first time. The last restoration of the picture so far was completed in 1988.

iconography

Pala di San Zaccaria, Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini: Sacra Conversazione, so-called Pala di San Zaccaria, Venice, 1505.

The altarpiece corresponds to the type of Sacra Conversazione known from the works of Giovanni Bellini and Antonello da Messina , a representation of the Madonna sitting on a throne with the child and surrounded by several saints. However, this does not represent a conversation in the literal sense. What is meant is an exchange on a spiritual level, as it could be achieved through meditation . The people shown here are related to one another through their physical closeness and certain viewing directions, but do not enter into direct correspondence.

Throne and altar

In this picture the throne not only occupies the place where the altar would stand in a chapel, but also stands on an altar itself. This emphasizes the sacrifice of Christ and creates a connection between the Christian Eucharist and the depicted apparition of the Madonna and Child. An altar canteen itself reminds of the sacrificial stones in the Jewish temples and of the fact that, according to Christian understanding, the sacrifice of Christ and the repetition of the Lord's Supper in Holy Mass replaced the sacrificial rituals of the Jewish religion. The small cylinder under the altar can also be interpreted as an antique round altar. Such were also sacrificial stones.

Holy figures

The apostle Peter in the front left can be recognized by the colors of his robes - blue and yellow - and the keys to the heavenly gate. Opposite him stands Paul , dressed in red and green. He has a typical attribute, the sword, with him. He can also be identified by the open Bible passage he shows. It is Philippians 2: 5–10 that emphasizes the self-humiliation of Christ and calls on believers to be humble. According to the reading order, this passage is read annually on Palm Sunday .

The two saints standing in the back wear the white Camaldolese habit. Saint Romuald - right - is the founder of this order and, according to legend, is also considered the founder of the Abbey of San Michele. His teachings were based on the Benedictine rule and reformed it. Therefore, it is believed that the other person with the crosier is Saint Benedict .

In the Gemäldegalerie catalog of 1909, instead of Benedict, St. Bruno was named as the fourth saint; in earlier descriptions, this person was not named.

Dome mosaic

The medallions of saints depicted in the dome and the story of Joseph are adaptations of the Venetian mosaic art of the 13th century. They come from the atrium of St. Mark's Basilica .

The medallions show John the Baptist on the left and John the Evangelist on the right.

Detail: painted dome mosaic with scenes from the story of Joseph

The first scene in the episode above is the Ismaili caravan that Joseph bought from the brothers and that is taking him to Egypt. In the second scene in the middle, Josef's brother Ruben, who was not present at the sale, looks into the well into which the brothers threw Josef out of jealousy. Since he finds it empty, he tells the family about Joseph's supposed death. The final scene on the right shows Jakob mourning his favorite son. The brothers did not find out until years later that Joseph had gained power and prestige as a servant of the Pharaoh.

However, Cima's altarpiece is not a copy of the mosaic in St. Mark's Basilica, but an adaptation that has been modified in favor of the increased meaning of the picture. The two shown medallions come from different places than the Joseph scenes. The scene with Ruben and the fountain was placed in the central axis of the belt arch in the panel; in St.

In the Christian typology , the Joseph story is understood as a foretaste of the life and death of Christ. The empty well stands for the empty grave on Easter morning . This relationship is referred to in the altarpiece of Mary Enthroned with Child and four saints , as the empty fountain lies on the vertical central axis and thus directly above the heads of Mary and the Christ child . The altarpiece thus not only indicates the holiness of mother and child, but also the sacrifice of Christ and the certainty of his resurrection .

The furnishing of these areas with gold plating shows that the panel painting not only cites the external form and content of the mosaic, but also its special material effect. Furthermore, this refers to the tradition of depicting holy persons and scenes in Christian painting on a gold background . The golden color stands for the sacred and raptures the picture objects into the heavenly sphere. This method of representation gradually declined in the Italian region during the 15th century and was increasingly replaced by representations in more realistic environments, as can also be seen here.

History and provenance

The date , the client and the original destination of the picture are not recorded. It is believed that the panel was made for an altar in the Church of San Michele in Isola, which belonged to the Camaldolese monastery on the island of San Michele . In Carlo Ridolfi's artist biographies it is stated that the picture was in the sacristy there in 1648 . The art historian Peter Humfrey evaluates the architectural forms and building materials shown as evidence that the painting was designed for this church from the beginning.

Dating and possible sites

Since there is no documentary information about the origin of the altarpiece, attempts were made to determine possible dates of origin using stylistic comparisons. The dating from 1495–1497 was carried out by Hans Posse in 1909, and can still be found today in the catalog of the Gemäldegalerie.

In this context, either Pietro Boldù, abbot of the neighboring Camaldolese Abbey of Santa Maria delle Carceri , or his nephew Domenico Boldù is assumed to be the commissioner for the altarpiece . Pietro Boldù financed the construction of the sacristy and the adjoining burial chapel and was buried in front of the altar of the sacristy in 1495. His heir Domenico Boldù could then have donated the altarpiece.

A later date to 1512 comes from the second director of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie, Wilhelm Bode and the self-taught art historian Gustav Ludwig and was published in 1903. The space under the gallery in the second bay of the nave was assumed to be the original location of the altarpiece . Before 1810 there had been two graves with associated altars there. In 1511 Pietro di Benedetto Priuli donated an altarpiece for his family grave, which Bode and Ludwig identify with Cima's Madonna Enthroned . They explain the relocation of the picture to the more protected sacristy with the climatic fluctuations near the church portal. Since the sacristy was rebuilt in 1698, the picture could have been moved to the comparatively narrow burial chapel of Pietro Boldù on this occasion. The arguments of Bode and Ludwig are based on a traditional frame from the time around 1700, the dimensions of which correspond to those of the plate, and they also argue with stylistic classifications in Cima’s work.

Provenance

The altarpiece Mary Enthroned with Child and four saints can be traced back to 1648 in the monastery church of San Michele in Isola, where it was located in the sacristy. It was last installed in the Boldù burial chapel attached to the sacristy.

In 1810 the monastery of San Michele was closed under the Napoleonic government and numerous works of art were sold. Presumably, the altarpiece of Mary Enthroned with Child and four saints had already been sold in 1806, as it is no longer mentioned in the state inventory of that year.

Gemaeldegalerie Berlin room 37
Today's presentation in room 37

Before 1821 the picture came into the collection of the merchant Edward Solly , the exact time is not known. It hung there together with eight other paintings on similar subjects in room 5, the “Room of the Venetians”, as Karl Friedrich Schinkel documented in 1819. In 1821 the Solly collection was sold to the Prussian state and served as the basis for the establishment of the Royal Picture Gallery .

After the Second World War, the altarpiece was brought to the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point by the Allies . After its dissolution, it returned to Berlin in 1956 and moved to the new West Berlin location of the Gemäldegalerie in Dahlem.

Today the picture is on display in room 37 of the Gemäldegalerie at the Kulturforum Berlin . This room has walls painted white and has a comparatively large amount of daylight through an opposite window and the skylight. The altarpiece is completely and brightly lit. This presentation is in stark contrast to the assumed local context of the picture in the rather narrow and dark Boldù chapel or the sacristy of San Michele and makes it difficult to understand the original picture effect.

literature

  • Catarina Schmidt Arcangeli: Giovanni Bellini e la pittura veneta a Berlino. Le collezioni di James Simon e Edward Solly alla Picture Gallery . Scripta edizioni, Verona 2015, ISBN 978-88-98877-47-8 .
  • Wilhelm Bode, Gustav Ludwig: The altarpieces of the church S. Michele di Murano and the resurrection picture of Giovanni Bellini in the Berlin gallery . In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections . tape 24 , no. 2 , 1903, p. 131-146 , doi : 10.2307 / 25167477 , JSTOR : 25167477 .
  • Peter Humfrey: Cima da Conegliano . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1983, ISBN 0-521-23266-X .
  • Hans Posse: The picture gallery of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum. Fully descriptive catalog . Julius Bard Publishing House, Berlin 1909.
  • Robert Skwirblies: A national good that every inhabitant should be proud of. The Solly Collection as the basis of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie . In: Yearbook of the Berlin museums . tape 51 , 2009, p. 69-99 , doi : 10.2307 / 25766145 , JSTOR : 25766145 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicolaus, Knut: DuMont's handbook of painting. Material - technology - care . 3. Edition. DuMont, Cologne 1986, ISBN 978-3-7701-0985-2 , pp. 17, 35 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Catarina Schmidt Arcangeli: Giovanni Bellini e la pittura veneta a Berlino. Le collezioni di James Simon e Edward Solly alla Picture Gallery . Scripta edizioni, Verona 2015, ISBN 978-88-98877-47-8 , p. 266 .
  3. ^ Catarina Schmidt Arcangeli: Giovanni Bellini e la pittura veneta a Berlino. Le collezioni di James Simon e Edward Solly alla Picture Gallery . Scripta edizioni, Verona 2015, ISBN 978-88-98877-47-8 , p. 265 .
  4. ^ Peter Humfrey: Cima da Conegliano . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1983, ISBN 0-521-23266-X , pp. 16 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Catarina Schmidt Arcangeli: Giovanni Bellini e la pittura veneta a Berlino. Le collezioni di James Simon e Edward Solly alla Picture Gallery . Scripta edizioni, Verona 2015, ISBN 978-88-98877-47-8 , p. 262 .
  6. ↑ The Letter to the Philippians. In: Directory of places in the order of the biblical books. German Liturgical Institute, accessed on July 1, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e Peter Humfrey: Cima da Conegliano . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1983, ISBN 0-521-23266-X , pp. 81 .
  8. ↑ a b Hans Posse: The picture gallery of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum. Fully descriptive catalog . Verlag Julius Bard, Berlin 1909, p. 120 .
  9. ↑ a b National Museums in Berlin: Madonna Enthroned with Child and Four Saints. In: Online database SMB-Digital. Retrieved June 30, 2020 .
  10. ^ Bode, Wilhelm: Gustav Ludwig (†) . In: Art Chronicle . tape 16 , no. 14 , 1905, pp. 210 .
  11. ^ Wilhelm Bode, Gustav Ludwig: The altarpieces of the church S. Michele di Murano and the resurrection picture of Giovanni Bellini in the Berlin gallery . In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian Art Collections . tape 24 , no. 2 , 1903, p. 146 , doi : 10.2307 / 25167477 , JSTOR : 25167477 .
  12. ^ Catarina Schmidt Arcangeli: Giovanni Bellini e la pittura veneta a Berlino. Le collezioni di James Simon e Edward Solly alla Picture Gallery . Scripta edizioni, Verona 2015, ISBN 978-88-98877-47-8 , p. 263 .
  13. ↑ Robert Skwirblies: A national good that every inhabitant should be proud of. the Solly collection as the basis of the Berlin picture gallery . In: Yearbook of the Berlin museums . tape 51 , 2009, p. 87 , doi : 10.2307 / 25766145 , JSTOR : 25766145 .
  14. ↑ Robert Skwirblies: A national good that every inhabitant should be proud of. the Solly collection as the basis of the Berlin picture gallery . In: Yearbook of the Berlin museums . tape 51 , 2009, p. 69 , doi : 10.2307 / 25766145 , JSTOR : 25766145 .