GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIAZZETTA, attr.

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIAZZETTA Venice 1683 – 1754 Venice CRUCIFIXION WITH SAINT FRANCIS Oil on canvas 73 × 54 cm / 28.7 × 21.3 inches, framed 83 × 64 cm / 32.7 × 25.2 inches PROVENANCE Germany, private collection MEDITATION IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS: GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIAZZETTA We are faced with a rare work, most likely created during the early period of activity of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, one of the most expressive masters of Venetian painting of the eighteenth century. The attribution, proposed by Roberto Ciabattini, is based on a careful comparison with other Crucifixions by the artist, in particular those preserved at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, in the parish church of Prcanj in Montenegro, and in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. The painting was also engraved by Marco Pitteri — the print is now preserved at the Correr Museum in Venice. The comparison with certain works by Piazzetta, such as the Resurrection of Christ of the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Bologna or the Beheading of the Baptist of Padua, confirms the attribution: the figure of Christ reveals the same plastic clarity, dramatic intensity and dynamism that distinguish the artist's style in the early 1710s. A previous attribution to Giulia Lama, a student of Piazzetta, is now considered unlikely. Her Crucifixion with Saints in the church of San Vidal in Venice (datable between 1726 and 1732) stands out clearly in style and pictorial construction. PIAZZETTA — PAINTER OF DRAMATIC CONCENTRATION Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1683–1754), son of the sculptor Giacomo Piazzetta, was one of the most original figures in Venetian painting of his time. A student of Antonio Molinari, he went to Bologna around the age of twenty to study the works of the Carracci and Guercino. However, it was the encounter with the art of Giuseppe Maria Crespi — in whose workshop he probably entered around 1703 — that deeply marked his training. He returned to Venice in 1711 and in 1750 he was appointed director of the Venetian Academy of Painting. Piazzetta's style differs markedly from that of the Venetian school contemporary to him. His drawing, strong and plastic, is deeply pictorial, never linear. His painting seeks a sort of “chromatic sculpture,” in which each brushstroke contributes to the construction of the image. This inner tension, the formal concentration on the figure and the strong contrasts of light and shadow characterize both religious and genre scenes. Among his most important works are: the Martyrdom of Saint James (1717, San Stae), Saint Philip Neri in Adoration of the Virgin (1725–27, Santa Maria della Fava), the Glory of Saint Dominic (circa 1727, Santi Giovanni e Paolo) and the famous altarpiece with Saints Hyacinth, Louis and Vincent (1738, church of the Gesuati). The last years of his life were marked by poverty and deep loneliness. Despite public recognition and official appointments, Piazzetta died in Venice in serious economic difficulty.