MASSIMO STANZIONE
(Orta di Atella ca. 1585 – ca. 1656 Naples)

The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist

Oil on canvas
9 ⅝ x 14 ¼ inches (24.3 x 36.3 cm)
 

Provenance:

Private Collection, Spain.

The great rival of Jusepe de Ribera, Massimo Stanzione ranks among the leading painters in Naples in the first half of the 17th century. Although Stanzione trained in Naples with Fabrizio Santafede and Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, his most important sources of artistic influence were the works of Bolognese painters. The artist evidently travelled frequently between Naples and Rome before 1630, which provided him the opportunity to study the major frescoes and altarpieces by the Carracci, Guido Reni, and Domenichino in the Eternal City. This had a profound impact on the development of his distinctive style and ultimately earned him the nickname “il Guido Reni napoletano.”

In the early 1630s, Stanzione produced four large canvases as part of a series of paintings depicting the story of Saint John the Baptist for King Philip IV of Spain. This series—which included one painting by Artemisia Gentileschi and another by Paolo Finoglio (now lost)—was commissioned by the Viceroy of Naples, Don Manuel de Fonseca y Zúñiga on behalf of his brother-in-law, the powerful Count-Duke of Olivares. The Count-Duke of Olivares was both prime minister to Philip IV and governor of the Buen Retiro Palace, and the series of paintings were conceived as decoration for the hermitage of San Juan formerly in the gardens of the palace complex. Stanzione’s canvases are today in the Museo del Prado (Figs. 1-4).

 Our canvas is a newly discovered autograph replica of Stanzione’s The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist. The artist is known to have painted two other small-scale versions after works in the series—one after the Birth of John the Baptist announced to Zacharias and the other after Saint John the Baptist leaving his Father’s House (both in private collections). In the present painting, the graceful and brightly lit composition of the Prado picture has been rendered with greater chiaroscuro, resulting in an image that retains its sense of monumentality but is more Caravaggesque in nature. Although painted as a ricordo of the larger canvas, the figures are rapidly sketched, which lends the work the appearance of a bozzetto. Here Stanzione’s rich palette of bold colors is the high point of the composition, particularly the deep red and golden yellow of the draperies.

We are grateful to Dr. Nicola Spinosa for confirming Massimo Stanzione’s authorship of this work (written communication, 3 December 2020).[1]

[1] A catalogue entry written by Dr. Spinosa is available upon request.