Raising of Lazarus

Turchi Alessandro called Orbetto

(Verona 1578 - Rome 1649)

In all likelihood, this painting was purchased directly by Scipione Borghese in 1617, when the cardinal signed several payments to Alessandro Turchi for works which these documents do not specify. Traditionally, however, critics believe that the paintings in question are this Raising of Lazarus, the Dead Christ with Mary Magdalene and Four Angels (inv. no. 499), and the Christ in the Sepulchre (inv. no. 307). All of these works have in fact been associated with the painter’s first years in Rome, where he worked on several decorative projects for the Borghese family, including the Quirinal Palace and the Casino del Barco in Villa Pinciana.

The work depicts the Biblical episode of the raising of Lazarus in the precise moment in which Christ, standing in front of Lazarus’s tomb, exclaims ‘Lazarus, come forth’ (John 11:43).

Object details

Commentary

This painting was first mentioned in connection with the Borghese Collection in 1650, when Iacomo Manilli described it as ‘the small work with Lazarus restored, painted on Lydian stone, by Alessandro Veronese’. Changed to Ludovico Carracci in the 1790 inventory and to Agostino Carracci in the Inventario Fidecommissario, this original attribution was justly revived by Adolfo Venturi (1893) and confirmed by both Roberto Longhi (1928) and Paola della Pergola (1955); the last-named critic dated the work to 1618. In her view, the painting in fact formed part of the group of works executed by Turchi for Scipione Borghese, who paid the artist for them in 1617. All subsequent critics have accepted this theory without reservations (see most recently Scaglietti Kelescian 2019).

According to Daniela Scaglietti Kelescian (1974), this work attests to the strong impression made by the Roman school of Caravaggio on the artist, an influence which in this case emerges forcefully, in part from the choice of the support material, namely very black, shiny slate. This medium suited Orbetto’s execution of the figures, in the context of experiments conducted in those years by Carlo Saraceni, Gerrit van Honthorst and numerous French painters active in Rome. Combining this experience with his training in the workshop of his master Felice Brusasorzi, Turchi produced a significant number of small-format compositions in the Eternal City, characterised by a ‘light’ and decorative interpretation of Caravaggio’s teachings. His style was much appreciated by his patrons, among whom the insatiable Scipione Borghese figured prominently.

Antonio Iommelli