Madonna and Child with the Saints Francis and Jerome
(Imola 1488 - Bologna c. 1545)
The painting replicates a type of subject explored a number of times by the artist, who used tried and tested formulas. This is especially true of his early work, when he was stylistically influenced by Mariotto Albertinelli, with whom he had contact during his time in Florence, as Vasari recalls. The first known mention of the panel in Borghese documents dates back to the fideicommissary inventory of 1833, where it is mentioned as being by an unknown artist. As of the end of the 19th century, the attribution to Francucci was proposed on stylistic grounds and still stands today.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
first quarter of the 16th century
Classification
Period
Medium
Dimensions
Frame
Salvator Rosa cm. 81,2 x 71,6 x 6
Provenance
Rome, Borghese collection, Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, p. 40. Purchased by the Italian state in 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 1915-1925 School of Restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts
- 1992 ICR
Commentary
Son of the goldsmith Pietro Francucci, his father’s workshop may have provided his earliest training. Already in 1506, Innocenzo is confirmed to have been in Bologna as an apprentice painter, although who his teacher was is not known. According to Malvasia (Felsina pittrice [1678], Bologna 1844, I, p. 119), two years later, Francucci was accepted into the workshop of Francesco Francia. However, this cannot be confirmed with certainty, while it is certain that this period was an opportunity to make contact with the spirit of “early classicism” that pervaded the Emilian city (C. Pedrini, ad vocem Francucci, Innocenzo, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, L, 1998). Vasari (Le vite [Lives]… [1568], edited by G. Milanesi, Florence 1880, V, p. 185) writes that the young painter spent a number of years in Florence “with Mariotto Albertinelli”. Proof of this contact is provided by numerous stylistic affinities, which can also be seen in the Borghese panel.
Francucci depicts the Madonna at the centre, wearing a red and green robe, holding the blessing Child on her lap. On either side of her are St Jerome and St Francis, the latter with his hands together in prayer. In the background a dark curtain, drawn open on the left, allows for a glimpse of a landscape.
The only known mention of the painting in the Borghese inventories goes back to the fideicommissary list of 1833, which states that it is by an unknown artist. Later, the panel was attributed to Francucci by Piancastelli (1891, p. 476), Venturi (1893, p. 205), Longhi (1928, p. 221), Pallucchini (1945, p. 152), Della Pergola (1955, p. 52, no. 85) and Ferriani (1986, p. 69).
The painting, which can be dated to the first quarter of the 16th century, is comparable to other works by this artist with a similar subject conserved in the Galleria Estense in Modena (Pallucchini cit.) and the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna. Primarily in the early part of his career, he devoted himself to reusing tried and tested formulas with small variations (Ferriani cit., p. 63).
Pier Ludovico Puddu
Bibliography
- G. Piancastelli, Catalogo dei quadri della Galleria Borghese, in Archivio Galleria Borghese, 1891, p. 476;
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 205;
- R. Longhi, Precisioni nelle Gallerie Italiane, I, La R. Galleria Borghese, Roma 1928, p. 221;
- A. De Rinaldis, La Galleria Borghese in Roma, Roma 1939, p. 46;
- R. Pallucchini, I dipinti della Galleria Estense di Modena, Roma 1945, p. 152;
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese. I Dipinti, I, Roma 1955, p. 52, n. 85;
- D. Ferriani, Innocenzo Francucci detto da Imola (Imola, 1490 ca. – Bologna, 1545 ca.), In Pittura bolognese del ‘500, I, a cura di V. Fortunati Pietrantonio, A.M. Fioravanti Baraldi, Bologna 1986, p. 69;
- K. Herrmann Fiore, Galleria Borghese Roma scopre un tesoro. Dalla pinacoteca ai depositi un museo che non ha più segreti, San Giuliano Milanese 2006, p. 142.
