Provenance:

Amalia Frua De Angeli, Milan, Italy, by 1941; by whom given on 20 November 1941 to her daughter (according to a label on the reverse)[i]:
Anna (Frua de Angeli) Vichey, Milan, Italy;
With Central Picture Galleries, New York, by 1972; where acquired by:
Private Collection, USA, 1972–2025.

Literature:

The Art Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 1 (Spring 1972), p. xiv.

Alessandro Magnasco is one of the most intriguing and enigmatic painters of the 18th-century in Italy. Although the son of the painter Stefano Magnasco, he was not trained by his father, who died when Alessandro was only a small child. Magnasco hailed from Genoa, but rather than following the main stylistic current of his native city, he followed a different and highly individual path. After arriving in Milan at a young age around 1681–1682, he joined the workshop of the painter Filippo Abbiati. His youthful works are aligned with the tenor of Lombard painting of this period. The harsh drama of these works, with dramatic light effects and dark, earthy tones, would remain a constant in his art, but Magnasco was quite expansive and unconventional in his exploration of a variety of subjects, from the reverent to the irreverent. His art developed over several significant periods, including his years in Florence where he worked for Grand Prince Ferdinand de’ Medici and his court (1703 to 1709), followed by a tenure in Milan painting for the Lombard aristocracy, and a final period following his return in 1735 to Genoa, where he remained until his death.

Our Saint Jerome in the Wilderness is an unpublished work by Magnasco that has emerged from a significant American private collection, where it had been for over fifty years.  The subject, Saint Jerome, was an early Christian priest and theologian, best known for his Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate. He famously spent several years as a penitent hermit in the Syrian desert, which is how he is depicted here: semi-naked and covered only by dark red cloth that drapes down his back and billows down onto the ground. He is shown in the act of beating his chest with a stone while a lion, his legendary companion tamed after he healed its injured paw, rests at his feet. Jerome kneels before a crucifix tied to a blasted tree, a skull (the traditional symbol of the transience of human life) perched on a makeshift ledge, and a book open before him (alluding to his celebrated translation of the Bible). The red cardinal’s hat resting on the nearby tree is another of his customary attributes.

Our painting is a triumph of emphatic gestural brushwork and deep, saturated colors. There is hardly a passage that does not vibrate with the energy of the artist’s bravura technique. Magnasco began his career as a figurista—painting small figures into landscapes in collaboration with other specialist painters. However, in paintings entirely by his hand, as with the present work, the distinction between figure and setting seems to disappear. Magnasco’s interest in genre painting and whimsical subjects helped him to breathe life and vitality into his figures, transforming them from staffage to captivating protagonists. Here, Jerome stands out for the heavy shading, the rapid, agitated brushstrokes, and the dynamism of his pose, which together clearly communicates the saint’s devotional fervor. His red drapery and the highlights of his body contrast beautifully with the earthy tones of the landscape that surround him and the deep blue sky above.

Dr. Anna Orlando has confirmed Alessandro Magnasco’s authorship of this painting (written communication, January 2025).[ii] She has written of this work:

[i] Amalia Frua De Angeli was the daughter of Ernesto Breda (1852–1918), founder of the Italian manufacturing company Breda, and the first wife of the Italian textile industrialist Carlo Frua de Angeli (1885–1969), who was a major collector and patron of modern art. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/research-centers/leonard-a-lauder-research-center/research-resources/modern-art-index-project/frua-de-angeli-c. The inscription on the label records that the painting was gifted by Amalia to a “Signorina Anna,” presumably her daughter.

[ii] A catalogue entry on this painting by Dr. Orlando is available upon request. “La composizione del dipinto qui esaminato è estremamente interessante: il Magnasco pare voler scandire in modo evidente la distinzione tra il Bene e il Male, il buio e la luce. Da buio del peccato, o meglio dal sonno della ragione e della Fede, san Girolamo pare volersi staccare e tendere verso la luce, la speranza, il chiarore di un cielo blu che è sede del Divino. La pennellata veloce e nervosa del genovese si può qui apprezzare sia nelle fronde degli alberi, sia nelle pennellate che definiscono le nubi nel loro veloce passaggio in cielo, si nella figura di Gerolamo. Anch'essa - il corpo, i muscoli, i panneggi - sono resi con pochi tocchi di pennello e presentano quel carattere sintetico di cui solo il Magnasco è capace (laddove i suoi seguaci e imitatori necessitano di assai più tocchi per raggiungere esiti assai meno verosimili e convincenti). Straordinario ed esemplare, in tal senso, è il leone: è l'attributo di san Gerolamo, ma qui diventa vero e proprio 'pezzo di bravura' e segno evidente dell'estro e della bizzarria pittorica del Lissandrino. Sono altresì straordinari i guizzi delle pennellate bianche che danno corpo alle forme e accendono le parti luminose del chiaroscuro. In alcune parti il Magnasco usa qui la tecnica del 'risparmio', che è uno dei tratti esecutivi che lo rendono riconoscibile: il pittore lascia volutamente riaffiorare la preparazione bruno-rossastra, che solo in parte copre con i suoi guizzi di colore. Lo stato di conservazione di questo dipinto, pressoché intatto, consente di apprezzarne l'assoluta qualità, oltre che l'assoluta autografia.”