Details & Cataloguing
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Giacinto Diano
POZZUOLI 1731 - 1804 NAPLES
THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS
Provenance
Private collection, Turin;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 29 January 2014, lot 35;
There acquired.
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 29 January 2014, lot 35;
There acquired.
Literature
European Paintings from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, New York 1971, p. 411, under cat. no. 239;
European Paintings from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, New York 1980, p. 449, under cat. no. 239.
European Paintings from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, New York 1980, p. 449, under cat. no. 239.
Catalogue Note
This lively work is a preparatory sketch by Giacinto Diano for his large-scale altarpiece in the Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. Diano was born in Pozzuoli and studied under both Francesca de Mura and Anton Mengs before settling in Naples in 1752. A prolific and prominent artist, Diano painted dynamic compositions filled with color and light, combining both Rococo and Neoclassical elements.
Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini was originally constructed in the late 16th century but after a fire in 1638 was rebuilt with a large dome. In 1780, a new marble altar was added to the large chapel on the left side of the transept, and Diano was commissioned to paint a cycle of scenes from the Christ's youth to decorate the sanctuary. The resulting canvases along the altar and walls of the chapel include compositions of The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Presentation of Christ at the Temple, The Adoration of the Magi, The Dream of Joseph, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, The Deposition and The Massacre of the Innocents, which was set into the frieze above the altar.1
The present bozzetto depicts the three central figures on the left side of the Massacre of the Innocents, the largest painting of the cycle. Diano has carefully constructed the triangular composition and is working out the poses of and interactions between the soldier and the women beneath him. His brushwork is fluid and he builds up the dimensions of the figures in some areas while quickly filling in others with blocks of color or shadow. The tone is cooler and overall color scheme more neutral than the finished mural; it is clear that this sketch was a study of the corporal dimensions and composition rather than a color exercise. In the final composition, the figure on the lower right of our sketch has changed positions; she is seen on her stomach, facing out to the viewer and directly underneath the central figure.
Another sketch for Diano's Massacre of the Innocents is in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (fig. 1). This preparatory study includes the full composition of the frieze and must have been a later study than the present work as the change in position of the woman at the bottom reflects that of the final painting.
1. See L. Donadio et. al, Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini: chiesa e Real Conservatorio, Naples 2005, p. 96.
Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini was originally constructed in the late 16th century but after a fire in 1638 was rebuilt with a large dome. In 1780, a new marble altar was added to the large chapel on the left side of the transept, and Diano was commissioned to paint a cycle of scenes from the Christ's youth to decorate the sanctuary. The resulting canvases along the altar and walls of the chapel include compositions of The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Presentation of Christ at the Temple, The Adoration of the Magi, The Dream of Joseph, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, The Deposition and The Massacre of the Innocents, which was set into the frieze above the altar.1
The present bozzetto depicts the three central figures on the left side of the Massacre of the Innocents, the largest painting of the cycle. Diano has carefully constructed the triangular composition and is working out the poses of and interactions between the soldier and the women beneath him. His brushwork is fluid and he builds up the dimensions of the figures in some areas while quickly filling in others with blocks of color or shadow. The tone is cooler and overall color scheme more neutral than the finished mural; it is clear that this sketch was a study of the corporal dimensions and composition rather than a color exercise. In the final composition, the figure on the lower right of our sketch has changed positions; she is seen on her stomach, facing out to the viewer and directly underneath the central figure.
Another sketch for Diano's Massacre of the Innocents is in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (fig. 1). This preparatory study includes the full composition of the frieze and must have been a later study than the present work as the change in position of the woman at the bottom reflects that of the final painting.
1. See L. Donadio et. al, Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini: chiesa e Real Conservatorio, Naples 2005, p. 96.
Suggested Lots
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