Full title | The Visitation with the Baptism of Christ |
---|---|
Artist | Francesco Zaganelli |
Artist dates | active 1499; died 1532 |
Series | The Laderchi Altarpiece from San Domenico, Faenza |
Date made | 1514 |
Medium and support | Oil on wood |
Dimensions | 200.7 x 190.5 cm |
Inscription summary | Signed; Dated |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1924 |
Inventory number | NG3892.1 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This is the main panel of an altarpiece painted for the chapel of the Visitation in the church of S. Andrea in Vineis, Faenza. A scroll inscribed ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’) is attached to the reed cross that Saint John the Baptist holds. The inscription refers to Christ, who will be sacrificed like a lamb for the salvation of humanity. John pours water from a bowl onto the head of Christ, who clasps his hands in prayer and accepts God’s will. The other Latin inscription, held by the hovering baby with the cloth, translates as: 'This is my beloved Son’ (Matthew 3: 17).
The scene on the left of women accompanied by angels represents the Visitation – the encounter between the pregnant Saint Elizabeth and her cousin the Virgin Mary. Elizabeth, pointing to the main scene of Christ’s baptism, shows Mary the future encounter of their unborn sons. Combining both episodes in one painting was very rare at this time.
This is the main panel of the altarpiece that Francesco Zaganelli painted for the chapel of the Visitation in the church of S. Andrea in Vineis, Faenza (the church was rebuilt in the eighteenth century and rededicated as S. Domenico).
A scroll inscribed ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’) is attached to the reed cross that Saint John the Baptist holds. The inscription refers to Christ, who will be sacrificed like a lamb for the salvation of humanity. The saint pours water from a bowl onto the head of Christ, who clasps his hands in prayer and accepts God’s will.
Christ stands in the river Jordan, framed by cliffs and trees. The lights of a distant town are reflected in its still waters, from which the buildings and trees apparently emerge. The unusually wild and rocky setting is found in earlier paintings of Christ’s baptism, such as the fresco by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. The landscape setting, the complex draperies and facial features also recall the work of German artists such as Patinir, Dürer and Altdorfer.
According to the Gospels, after Christ had been baptised the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven said: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3: 17). The first part of this sentence is inscribed in Latin on the scroll around the left arm of the infant hovering above Christ. The child may represent the Word Incarnate (the word of God given physical form), as seen in paintings of the Annunciation from the Emilia-Romagna region at this date. He holds an embroidered cloth reminiscent of a shroud – perhaps for Christ to dry himself on, or as a foreshadow of Christ’s Passion and death. The dead Christ with angels is the subject of the lunette, or upper part, of the altarpiece.
Although his baptism is the main action of the picture, Christ is placed slightly off-centre. Two women, an angel crowned with flowers and a musician angel occupy the left foreground. The altarpiece was painted for a chapel dedicated to the Visitation, so the two women probably represent the Virgin Mary and Saint Elizabeth. When Mary visited her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, the unborn John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. Here Elizabeth, pointing to the main scene, shows Mary the future encounter of their unborn sons. Combining both episodes in one painting was very rare at this time.
The haloes of Christ and the Virgin Mary in the main panel are painted in a distinctive and unusual manner: raised dots of greyish-white paint are superimposed on an ellipse. Similar raised dots are also present on the borders of garments and employed at a few points on the surface of the water. Numerous fingerprints are visible in the paint.
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The Visitation with the Baptism of Christ
The Laderchi Altarpiece from San Domenico, Faenza
These two panel paintings formed the altarpiece for the Laderchi chapel in S. Andrea in Vineis, Faenza (the church was rebuilt in the eighteenth century and rededicated as S. Domenico). The main panel represents two episodes from the New Testament: the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who was pregnant with Saint John the Baptist; and the baptism of Christ in the river Jordan by Saint John the Baptist. The lunette, or upper panel, shows the dead Christ sitting on his open tomb, supported by two angels.
On 9 April 1504, Giacomo di Francesco Laderchi dictated a will in which he ordained that after his death his brothers should spend 100 lire in adorning the chapel of the Visitation, which he had paid to have built in 1489. Given the prominence of John the Baptist in this altarpiece, his brother Giovanni Battista was probably most closely involved in the commission.
These two panel paintings formed the altarpiece for the Laderchi chapel in the church of S. Andrea in Vineis, Faenza (the church was rebuilt in the eighteenth century and rededicated as S. Domenico). The main panel represents two episodes from the New Testament: the visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who was pregnant with Saint John the Baptist; and the baptism of Christ in the river Jordan by Saint John. The lunette, or upper panel, shows the dead Christ sitting on his open tomb, supported by two angels.
On 9 April 1504, Giacomo di Francesco Laderchi dictated a will in which he expressed his wish to be buried in the Dominican church of S. Andrea in Vineis, Faenza. He ordained that after his death, his brothers Giovanni Battista and Marco should spend 100 lire in adorning the chapel of the Visitation, which he had paid to have built in 1489. Given the prominence of John the Baptist in this altarpiece, Giovanni Battista was probably the brother most closely involved in the commission. It is likely that the treatment of the subject was suggested by the Dominicans, perhaps with reference to a specific text concerning the Visitation.
Bernardino and Francesco Zaganelli were brothers who lived and worked together, owning everything in common. They often jointly signed their paintings. Bernardino was probably chiefly responsible for the designs, Francesco for the painting. This picture is signed by Francesco.
The composition was clearly influenced by Giovanni Bellini’s Baptism of Christ of about 1500–2 for S. Corona, Vicenza. The figure of Saint John the Baptist is similar, the holy women and angels are standing on a rocky river bank, and Bellini’s angels are also wingless. In Bellini’s Baptism, Christ, God the Father, the dove of the Holy Ghost and John the Baptist’s cup are all aligned on the central axis; this was impossible for Zaganelli, who needed to shift Christ’s baptism to one side in order to accommodate the Visitation. The landscape setting, the voluminous creased draperies and sinewy bodies recall the work of German artists such as Patinir, Dürer and Altdorfer, whose work Zaganelli may have known through prints or seen in north Italian collections.
The paintings were bought by the National Gallery in 1922. Together they constituted the last large and virtually complete Italian Renaissance altarpiece to be acquired by the National Gallery, though the frame is missing. However, they have not always been admired. In 1926, the painter and art critic Roger Fry described Zaganelli’s altarpiece to Vanessa Bell, a fellow member of the Bloomsbury Group, as: ‘a vast horror by him which hangs fortunately in a dark room in the N.G. Do you remember it? It’s a Baptism with J.C. wading disconsolately in a shallow stream, his head bent to avoid two or three vastly overfed Glaxo babies who are trying to avoid falling on him, in the air above.’ Fry appears to have misremembered the number of babies.


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