Vincent Malò (Cambrai 1602/06-Roma 1644), The Crucifixion of St. Andrew

Vincent Malò (Cambrai 1602/06-Rome 1644) The Crucifixion of St. Andrew Oil on panel, 51x68 cm With frame, 57x74 cm Critical analysis by Prof. Alberto Crispo Vincent Malò was born in Cambrai, in the heart of the French Flanders region, probably between 1602 and 1606. From 1623 to 1634, Malò was a pupil of the two most prominent painters in flourishing Antwerp: initially, he worked in the workshop of Pieter Paul Rubens, from whom he inherited the marked chiaroscuro contrast of Caravaggesque origin, and later with David Teniers the Elder, from whom he took the marked characterization of the figures that animate genre scenes and works of religious subject matter. During this period, he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp. After 1634, Malo moved to Italy, settling in Genoa. There he lived and collaborated with another Flemish painter, Cornelis de Wael, who played an important role in the Flemish artistic community in Genoa and who contributed to the spread of the dictates of Northern lenticularism in the north of the Peninsula. The port city of Genoa offered an environment rich in potential patrons and collectors. Malò received several commissions for local churches and palaces. During his stay in Genoa, he had Antonio Maria Vassallo as a pupil, who, together with his son Vincent Malò II, was his most famous successor. Among the works executed by the Flemish painter for Genoa is the Vision of Sant’Ampelio of the Genoese church of Santo Stefano: the work was executed around 1637, when the relics of the Saint were found: this fact is of particular importance for the placement of Malò in Liguria in the 1630s. Malò, during his decade-long Italian stay, also stayed in Florence and Rome, where he died on April 14, 1644. His family returned to Antwerp and in 1652 his son was admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke as the son of a master. Vincent Malo painted genre scenes, religious and mythological subjects, and occasionally portraits. His early works still show Mannerist traits, while mature works reveal a Baroque style close to that of Rubens and van Dyck. As evidence of his notable critical fortune, it is necessary to remember how a brief biographical and artistic profile of him had already been outlined in the second half of the 17th century by Raffaele Soprani, who wrote: “Vincenzo Malò of Cambrai, a painter of vague coloring, lived the past years in Genoa, & his brushes had such applause, that those cabinets were not considered well adorned, in which there was not seen some small table worked by his hands. In his early years, this man had learned the art of painting in Antwerp under the guardianship of David Tener [Teniers] a highly esteemed painter: but, then enamored of the beautiful way that Pietro Paolo Rubens held in painting, he went to his house, & staying there for some time, he waited with peace of mind to perfect himself in his craft; it is true that in his works the design always yielded to the coloring, and therefore his small canvases were always more appreciated than the large ones, and especially in Genoa where he colored a large quantity of them, often making use of the designs of Cornelio de Vael [de Wael], which is why they are held in great esteem by lovers of the profession. In the Oratory de SS. Pietro, & Paolo are his the table of the high altar, & a very large Cenacolo made by him in a very few days, & in S. Stefano there is the table of S. Ampegli consoled in his infirmity by the visit of the Angel: nor is any other of his work seen in public, the others all being preserved by many Citizens in their own homes, and among these is a very beautiful Santa Maria Madalena, which is near Sig. Gio: Nicolò Cavana. Desirous Vincent of seeing Florence he went there with all his family, and after having lived there for some time, he wanted to visit the City of Rome where, falling ill very soon because of his very unregulated way of life, he ended his days at the age of about 45, and the good hope that was had of his happy success was extinguished with him” (R. Soprani, Le vite de pittori scultori , et architetti genovesi, Genoa 1674, p. 330). Our panel can be easily associated with Malò's work, as revealed by comparisons with other pictorial proofs of the Flemish painter, a pupil of Rubens and Teniers. See, for example, the Camillo and the schoolmaster of Falerii formerly by Pandolfini in Florence, November 14, 2017, lot 12, where we find stylistic features that are completely similar, from the physiognomies to the way of outlining the clothes, but also observe the Triumph of David presented by Il Ponte in Milan, October 26-27, 2016, lot 563, in which we see warriors with armor and crests very close to those outlined in our panel and especially a graceful steed almost superimposable to ours, if not for the different inclination of the head. In the composition, two unusual characters are visible with regard to the classic iconography of the crucifixion of Saint Andrew: on one side there is the centurion Egea, who imposes the crucifixion of the saint, while opposite there is the presence of his wife Maximilia, who had been healed by the saint himself, who weeps with sorrow for his martyrdom.