The martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew

Details

Literatur:
Nicholas Turner, European master drawings from Portuguese collections, Lissabon 2000, Kat.-Nr. 28, mit farb. Abb.

Ausstellung:
Desenhos de mestres europeus em colecções portuguesas, Centro cultural de Belém, Lissabon (Oktober–Dezember 2000), Kat.-Nr. 28
European Master Drawings from Portuguese Collections (1500 – 1800), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (16. Mai–13. August 2000), Kat.-Nr. 28
Desenhos de mestres europeus em colecções portuguesas, Museu Nacional Soares Dos Reis, Porto (Oktober–Dezember 2001), Kat.-Nr. 28
Dibujos de maestros europeus en las colecciones portuguesas (1500–1800), Museu Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2002, Kat,-Nr. 18

Provenienz:
Sotheby’s, London, Auktion, 2.7.1997, Los 123;
Europäische Privatsammlung.

Description

Compositional study for the altarpiece in the Chiesa di San Niccolò del Carmine, Siena, which depicts the martyrdom of St Bartholomew. Casolani accepted this commission three years before his death. According to the Legenda aurea, the apostle Bartholomew missioned as a “witness of Christ” as far away as India. He is said to have suffered his martyrdom in Armenia. According to tradition, he was flayed alive and then crucified upside down because he could not be dissuaded from his faith. If we compare the sketch with the executed altarpiece, Casolani has made some changes: the wrists of the tortured man are not crossed, instead the arms are brought almost vertically upwards, where they are tied to a wooden board with slings. One other addition is the dog that has joined the henchmen, licking up the blood spilled on the floor. – Minor light staining. One area of the left edge slightly abraded, backed below, with a 2cm tear. The paper thinned in the lower right, with a small hole. With mounting strips along the edges on the reverse.