RIMINALDI, Orazio

This work, which can be dated back to between 1620 and 1625, clearly shows how Riminaldi took inspiration from Caravaggio, even referring to some of the artist’s works, especially his Martyrdom of St Matthew. The theatrical nature of the scene, the skilled orchestration of the cone of light covering the three figures, accentuates both the expressive power of the executioner, holding St Cecilia by the hair to uncover her neck, ready for the sword, and the dynamic movement of the angel plummeting down to the saint to honour her with the symbols of sainthood and martyrdom.

Although the composition closely echoes that of Caravaggio, Riminaldi’s other elements betray a decidedly classicist influence, taken from Simon Vouet and Guido Reni, and visible in the elegant sophistication of the sumptuous brocade clothing and the tender sensuality of the saint.

The work was originally intended for the church of Santa Maria della Rotonda in the Pantheon in Rome but, for reasons perhaps linked to a partial non-payment by the church, Riminaldi kept the work and took it with him to Pisa in 1627. On his death, it passed to his heirs, who placed it in the church of Santa Caterina. In 1693 Grand Prince of Tuscany Ferdinando de’ Medici bought the painting for his collection and placed it in the apartments on the first floor of Pitti Palace. It was at this time that the canvas was enlarged on three sides to fit in the imposing frame that it has today.

As the “Sacrifice of Abraham, by the Pisan Orazio”, this painting is mentioned in a 1631 inventory of paintings found in the gallery of the Palazzo Mattei. The decoration of the palace at the commission of Annibale Mattei in 1624-26 was the last great Roman project to be given to painters who were all, to varying degree, connected to the Caravaggesque experience. The painting, attributable with certainty to Riminaldi and most likely datable to around 1625, is a precious document, considering the rarity of surviving works by this artist. As such, it is a firm point in the reconstruction of Riminaldi’s stylistic development.

After an initial attachment to Gentileschi and Manfredi, Riminaldi gravitated more towards artists in the French ambient, especially Vouet. He also exhibited a growing interest in the early Baroque experiments of Lanfranco. This painting reveals the artist’s synthesis and passage between his own most influential sources; the art of Manfredi and that of Lanfranco. The total absence of violence or horror in this scene reflects Riminaldi’s tendency to “ennoble” the Caravaggesque and Manfredian elements; currents typical to the naturalistic painting of Tuscany and clearly identifiable in Riminaldi’s work.

An autograph replica of this painting was recently on the Swiss antiquarian market.

The precedent for the subject is Caravaggio’s Amor Victorious which illustrates a line from Virgil’s Eclogues. In Riminaldi’s work, however, the ambiguities suggested by the naughty adolescent depicted by Caravaggio are abandoned in favour of a simpler narrative. Cupid’s pose is indebted to Caravaggio’s St John the Baptist. While somewhat distanced from the raw naturalism of Caravaggio’s naked St John, Cupid’s features still recall the naturalistic tendency.