24
Agostino Scilla (Messina, 1629 - Roma, 1700)
St. John the Baptist preaching to the crowds, 17th century
Oil on canvas
H 204x161 cm - in frame H 268x203 cm
Expert opinion and video by Professor Claudio Strinati: "The painting is constructed according to a criterion typical of this eminent painter, whose authenticity I confirm. He has long been highly re-evaluated by historiography, but still awaits full re-evaluation by contemporary critics. Of Sicilian origin, Scilla spent an important period in Rome, where he drew close to the style and manner of Pier Francesco Mola and Andrea Sacchi. These influences, especially that of Mola, are evident in our painting. The slender, towering figure of John the Baptist dominates the scene, set in a dark but sharply delineated landscape. The crowd gathers around him , and there is a certain, I would say deliberate, accentuation of oriental motifs, according to a criterion that tends to visually reconstruct the stories told in the figures, in a manner both fantastical and plausible.
The work in question here, moreover, seems to bear an initials (difficult to decipher, however) in the top right-hand corner which could perhaps be read as AS, an initials which Scilla sometimes uses in his paintings.
The state of conservation is good, but it should be noted that the painting must have been subjected to some drastic cleaning in the past, which would have subsequently made it necessary to apply numerous and widespread retouches, which in my opinion could easily be removed with a new, more up-to-date intervention.
Our painting appears to date to the period between the formidable fresco cycle in the Cathedral of Syracuse (1657-60) and several celebrated monumental altarpieces such as that of the Dying Saint Hilarion, which I believe can undoubtedly be usefully compared with our painting. Our work dates to shortly after 1670, the year in which Scilla published a remarkable volume entitled La vana speculazione disillusioned dal senso (Vain Speculation Disillusioned by Sense), the first treatise on paleontology ever published in Italy, a discipline in which Scilla was a leading expert.
His character is very complex and rich in references, even extra-aesthetic ones, of which our work seems to be a significant testimony.
Sincerely,
Claudio Strinati"
Non-contemporary frame. Sicilian painter of the 17th century.
Non-contemporary frame. Sicilian painter of the 17th century.
15.000,00 €
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