Landscape with Monks and Other Figures
Artist
Alessandro Magnasco
(Italian, 1667-1749)
CultureItalian
Dateca. 1690
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 97 1/4 x 61 1/2 in. (247 x 156.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 99 1/4 x 63 3/4 in. (252.1 x 161.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 99 1/4 x 63 3/4 in. (252.1 x 161.9 cm)
InscribedInitialed (?) on the "cartello" at center: "AM"
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.541
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. A large landscape with a group of friars eating in the ledt foreground, on the right a shepardess rests and in the lower center a woman draws water from a fountain.Label TextAlessandro Magnasco Italian, Genoa (1667-1749) Landscape with Monks and Other Figures, ca. 1690 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.541 Stormy, melodramatic landscapes - a hallmark of late Baroque painting - were first made famous by Salvator Rosa, whose Baptism of the Eunuch is on view in this gallery. Rosa's bold style exerted a formative influence on the next generation of landscape painters that included Alessandro Magnasco. The younger artist favored arcadian vistas, mysterious, haunted forest scenes, and storm-tossed seascapes. He populated these scenes with sorcerers, monks, and bandits and filled them with a flickering light. Landscape with Monks and Other Figures is an early work by Magnasco, revealing only a hint of the violently expressive, slashing brush technique of his mature art. Here an ominous mood is captured by the splintered trees, dilapidated architecture, and pockets of shadow in the foreground. The restless vista is enlivened by a few small figures - a shepherdess rests in the foreground, a second woman retrieves well water at center, while a man next to her plunges his arm into the pool. In the darkened corner at lower left, traveling monks have stopped for food and rest as two menacing figures - perhaps thieves - peer at them from the trees above.ProvenanceGeorg Schwarz, Berlin, 1923; Klaus Benedict, Berlin, 1926; Newhouse Gallery, New York City, 1958; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1971. Exhibition HistoryPaul Cassirer, Berlin, 1913-1914. "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1958. (Exh. cat. no. 40). "Genoese Masters," Dayton Art Institute, 1962. (Exh. cat. no. 41). "Genoese Painters," Finch College Museum of Art, New York City, 1964-1965. (Exh. cat.no. 85). "Art in Italy, 1600-1700," The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1965. (Exh. cat. no. 182). "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. (Exh. cat. no. 56). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exh. cat. no. 8) Published ReferencesBenno Geiger, MAGNASCO, Bergamo, 1949, p. 73. Bertina S. Manning. _Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition_. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958. No. 40. Catalogue prepared by Robert L. Manning. _Genoese Painters: Cambiaso to Magnasco, 1550-1750_. New York : Finch College Museum of Art. 1964. No. 85. Robert L. Manning. _Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 56. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_, exhibition catalogue, Wildenstein and Co., New York, 1978. No. 8. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1991, p. 60, #45.
17th century
