BADALOCCHIO, Sisto

This painter from Parma was the author of altarpieces as well as fresco decorations in both Rome and Parma. Nevertheless, he was especially esteemed for gallery paintings, such as the present canvas. While three ‘amorini’ are busy disarming him, Mars futilely attempts to resist the enticement of Venus, lying on a precious bed; a pleasant landscape opens up in the background.

The painting seems to have been quite famous, judging from the existence of an old copy which documents the original format of the work, altered during the eighteenth century.

The theme of Susanna and the Elders was very well-known in Venice by the end of the sixteenth century, but not in Rome. It seems likely that its increased popularity in the Eternal City was the direct result of Annibale Carracci and his school. Annibale had made a print of Susanna and the Elders before he left Bologna, and in Rome he took up the theme again in a lost painting described by Bellori. Sisto Badalocchio’s monumental figures are similar to those in Annibale’s print, although Susanna is more clearly derived from antique examples of the Crouching Venus. The normal garden setting and fountain in which Susanna bathes have been reduced to the bare minimum; only a few trees and a classical pedestal suggest the rest. Thus the figures, which are close to life-size, have a commanding psychological presence and the palpability of Susanna’s semi-nude body seems all the more sexually arousing.

Because of the inscription ‘A.CAR.BON.F.’, the picture has been variously attributed to Annibale, Agostino, and Antonio Carracci. However, none of these artists is known to have signed works solely with the initial `A’. By 1657, when the picture was recorded in the collection of Donna Olimpia Aldobrandini, it had already been taken off its stretcher, strongly suggesting that it was not by an artist of Annibale’s stature (or perhaps that the subject was considered too provocative). The signature was first recorded in the nineteenth century and technical evidence suggests that it floats on the surface. It was therefore probably added at a later date to enhance the value of the painting.

In 1602 Badalocchio was sent by the Duke of Parma to study with Annibale in Rome, where he remained until the master’s death in 1609. His Roman works, such as the Susanna and the Hartford Holy Family, unite the grandeur of Annibale’s style with a pictorial richness of colour and light that reflects Badalocchio’s Emilian background. The plump, round faces and relief-like effect of the drapery’s sinuous folds are similar in both pictures. The compact grouping of the figures around a recessive diagonal is also more characteristic of Badalocchio than of any of the members of the Carracci family.

The important Entombment of Christ dating from the first decade of the 17th century is attributed to Sisto Badalocchio. Here human participation in the event has become the main focus. A comparison with Raphael’s Deposition (also in the Borghese Gallery), which inspired it, reveals how the painter insisted on the emotions as reflected in natural movements, and was influenced both by D�rer’s prints and antique sculpture.

Badalocchio, who was born in Parma, probably trained in the Carracci academy in Bologna, and then worked with Agostino Carracci in the service of Ranuccio Farnese in Parma. On Agostino’s death he went, with Giovanni Lanfranco, to Rome to work as an assistant of Annibale on the walls of the Galleria Farnese. On Annibale’s death in 1609, Badalocchio returned to his native city. His artistic personality was relatively obscure until the 1950s, in part because of his dependence on Annibale’s example.

The influences of both Parma and Rome are evident in this picture. The Virgin rests against a wall, apparently pausing during the flight into Egypt, cradling the infant Christ, while St Joseph keeps watch. A notable feature is the exquisite still-life of a basket of fruit.

The picture was first recorded in the Farnese collection, where, in 1653, it was attributed to Lanfranco. Subsequently, it was attributed to Ludovico Carracci, and it was only in 1958 that the correct attribution to Badalocchio was proposed. The monumentality of form and the intimate use of expression owe much to Annibale’s teaching, as does the classical landscape which frames the composition. In these respects the picture can be compared with Albani’s contemporary Rest on the Flight. However, the handling of colour and light suggest that Badalocchio was also influenced by the art of Parma, especially that of Correggio and Bartolomeo Schedoni (then court painter to Ranuccio Farnese), suggesting that it was executed shortly after his departure from Rome. A copy of this painting, extended at the left to include two angels, once hung alongside it in the Farnese collection in Rome, and is now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.