BORGIANNI, Orazio

This picture is one of Borgiani’ most unusual works, he seems to have produced nothing else quite like it. Although the style of the painting has been explained as a mixture of influences derived from Correggio and the Bassano family, the soft, Correggesque rendering of Christ and the angel could just as easily have been absorbed from the Roman activity of Annibale Carracci and his school.

Once in the Roman convent of San Silvestro in Capite, this picture remained in place there until 1922, when the convent building (already suppressed in 1871 ) was transformed into the Ministry of Public Works. The painting is not recorded in old sources or guidebooks, perhaps because it was kept on the cloistered side of the complex and was inaccessible to the public.

The placement of the picture in the chronology of the painter’s career is somewhat controversial. Many experts accept 1609, on the basis of documents relating to the decoration of the convent, and of substantial stylistic and typological comparisons between this picture and the artist’s 1608 Sezze altarpiece.

The overall composition of the canvas depends on Raphaelesque prototypes such as the Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth (Paris, Louvre Museum). The famous basket at the lower right, meanwhile, has a precedent in Giulio Romano’s Madonna of the Cat, now in Naples (Museum of Capodimonte). Nevertheless, the close point of view, the strong and distinct light source, and the thickening of the shadows all leave no doubt about Borgianni’s tight adhesion to naturalistic modes. Above all, Borgianni’s naturalism shines forth in the extraordinary optical rendering of the basket of linens at the lower right.

The Lamentation seems to have been Borgianni’s favourite subject in his final years. There are at least four painted versions and a signed etching dated 1615. In these compositions there are either two or three mourners (as in the present version). Among the iconographic precedents of the painting, the link with Mantegna’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ is evident.

Until recent years the painting was attributed to Ludovico Carracci. However, in 1992 it was identified as the self-portrait of Orazio Borgianni on the basis of typological and stylistic similarities to the known portraits of that painter. Two self portraits of Borgianni are cited in the 1638 inventory of the Giustiniani collection, and in the will and testament of the painter. The rapid and essential brushstroke, with its almost impressionistic effect, contributes considerably to the lively expressiveness of the portrait and to the immediacy of its psychological qualities.

This portrait should fall chronologically between the two other known portraits of Borgianni; the luxuriant and healthy face of 1614 and the emaciated and febrile face that must date to just before the artist’s death in 1616. In this picture, Borgianni’s face is at an intermediary stage as the artist’s illness is just beginning to show its effects. On the other hand, the accentuated baldness of the sitter in the Rome canvas would suggest a dating later than both the other portraits. On the basis of these conflicting considerations, seems best to date the execution of this self-portrait to 1615. Such a date makes sense stylistically, as the painting corresponds well with Borgianni’s late phase, characterized by dense handling of the pictorial material, the dark shadows and almost monochrome palette.

Borgianni’s altarpiece for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, the church of the Discalced Trinitarians, was probably already installed when the building was consecrated on 2 June 1612. At that time, the order’s two founders, Felix de Valois and Jean de Matha, had not yet been canonised. They could only be worshiped in public after 1666, once the process had been completed. This did not mean, however, that a cult could not develop around them earlier. The order, established for the express purpose of buying the freedom of Christian slaves, was consecrated to the Holy Trinity. One of the most important ‘new’ saints of the period was Carlo Borromeo, who had been canonised in 1610. Borromeo came from Milan, which was then under Spanish rule. The Trinitarians, too, had close ties with Spain, and between 1598 and 1606 Borgianni himself had spent time in Pamplona, Madrid, Valladolid and Toledo. It is therefore not at all surprising that the commission for the recently finished church went to him, and that the church itself was not only dedicated to the Holy Trinity but to this new saint as well.

In the altarpiece Carlo Borromeo is seen in full length, his left hand at his breast and his other open, pointing downwards. The Holy Trinity is depicted at the upper left. This combination might seem surprising. Although Carlo Borromeo was particularly devoted to the Passion, in Borgianni’s painting he is presented as a true devotee of the Trinity, which in this context is understandable. The saint clearly demonstrates that his devotion is affective and that it comes directly from a pious heart. He is an example for all the Trinitarian brothers living in the monastery to imitate. Moreover, the altarpiece signaled the political leanings of the order towards the Spanish-Lombard faction. Remarkably enough the Trinitarians did exactly the same as the Barnabites who in their San Carlo ai Catinari used the image of Carlo Borromeo to show their spiritual affiliations.

In 1614 the saint’s heart was triumphantly brought to the church of Santi Carlo e Ambrogio al Corso. This intensified the cult around the great Milanese cardinal, which now centred on his mystically inspired, secular charity. The saint’s gesture in Borgianni’s altarpiece is a conscious reference to this new, modernised cult. The order’s propagandistic aims and the desire for a public avowal of their particular brand of spirituality thus determine the look of Borgianni’s painting.