Artibus et Historiae no. 20 (X)

1989, ISSN 0391-9064

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MINA GREGORI - The Sacrifice of Isaac: A Newly Discovered Work By Caravaggio; Reflections on the Influence of Savoldo

Caravaggio painted two different versions of The Sacrifice of Isaac: one is the former Barberini canvas that is now in the Uffizi, and the other became known through the studies by Ainaud de Lasarte and other scholars of the numerous copies of the work. The painting considered in this article may be recognized, in terms of its qualities, manner of execution, and pentimenti, as the lost original of this second version, from about the time of The Conversion of Mary Magdalen and the Thyssen Saint Catherine of around 1597-98.

The attention to shadows and the extensive gloom enveloping the figure of Isaac mark the onset of the process of "strengthening the darkness" which Bellori spoke of, and which was to culminate with the paintings on the walls of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. These works are associated with this still idyllic stage in the artist's life, along with the David in the Prado and the Saint John the Baptist in the museum of the cathedral in Toledo. In the case of the David, the results of an X-ray examination are given here for the first time; they reveal an important pentimento. For the John the Baptist, the author accepts the attribution to Caravaggio, and supports it with further arguments. This attribution dates back to Ponz, and has since been accepted by Ainaud de Lasarte, Perez Sanchez, and Mahon.

The lighting conception for the Sacrifice of Isaac represents a major rethinking of the empirical and symbolic uses of light. These go back to Brescian traditions in depicting angel themes, in the Annunciation in the polyptych which Titian sent to Brescia for the church of SS. Nazarro e Celso, and in the Archangel Raphael and the Young Tobias by Girolamo Savoldo, now in the Borghese Gallery. The lighting contrasts in the latter are derived, albeit in reverse, from Titian's figures. The present work thus confirms Caravaggio's continuing interest in Savoldo, already apparent in his earlier period.