DOI issue:
Nr. 3-4
DOI article:Murawska-Muthesius, Katarzyna; Secomska, Krystyna: Mary Magdalen, the counter reformation and the Caravaggisti: are there any more paintings by Antiveduto Gramatica in Poland?
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18945#0117
back to virtue by introducing her to Christ.22 The picture illustrates the
moment when Martha, speaking about her love for Christ, puts her hand on
her bosom, as if she were trying to find a way to her sister’s heart. She is rising
from the chair, leaning towards her in an act of persuasion. Mary, however,
standing by her dressing table, with her back to Martha, is busy combing her
hair. In response she only turns her calm and undisturbed face. Her distinctly
red hair stands out from the somewhat darkened palette of the painting, which
is, otherwise, composed of yellow and olive green tones in Martha’s clothes,
the whiteness of her head-scarf and metallic blue hues of Mary’s dress.
We may quote a long list of affinities to other works of Gramatica,
beginning with the type of composition which confronts two women, a mezzo
figura, or in three-quarters - indulging in a kind of conversation, such as St.
Pudenziana and St. Prasseda in the Sabauda Gallery in Turin.23 Nor is it difficult
to find many examples of gestures analogous to that of Martha’s right hand, for
instance in the St. Catherine of Alexandria, or in the figure of the same saint in
the altarpiece in the Todi Cathedral (Fig. 3)24. In this last case, the telling but
indescribable expression of the Madonna’s face is also contrasted with the
somewhat beseeching look of St. Catherine’s profile. We could furthermore
find numerous examples of Mary’s round face, of her prominent nose and
chin, her long hair (according to Mancini, Gramatica “eccede nel far i capelli”),
or a similar dress.
4. Antiveduto Gramatica,
Martha Rebuking Mary
for her Vanity,
c. 1620, Casa d'aste Pitti,
Florence, 15.05.1985
(Phot, after Papi, op. cit.)
22 The episode originates from legendary lives of Mary Magdalen, see pp.24-25, 30-31, notes
35,36,56 in this article.
23 Riedl “Ein wiedergefundenes...”, op. cito. Papi, Antiveduto Gramatica, op. cit. no. 55.
24 Ìbidem, nos.7, 39.
107
moment when Martha, speaking about her love for Christ, puts her hand on
her bosom, as if she were trying to find a way to her sister’s heart. She is rising
from the chair, leaning towards her in an act of persuasion. Mary, however,
standing by her dressing table, with her back to Martha, is busy combing her
hair. In response she only turns her calm and undisturbed face. Her distinctly
red hair stands out from the somewhat darkened palette of the painting, which
is, otherwise, composed of yellow and olive green tones in Martha’s clothes,
the whiteness of her head-scarf and metallic blue hues of Mary’s dress.
We may quote a long list of affinities to other works of Gramatica,
beginning with the type of composition which confronts two women, a mezzo
figura, or in three-quarters - indulging in a kind of conversation, such as St.
Pudenziana and St. Prasseda in the Sabauda Gallery in Turin.23 Nor is it difficult
to find many examples of gestures analogous to that of Martha’s right hand, for
instance in the St. Catherine of Alexandria, or in the figure of the same saint in
the altarpiece in the Todi Cathedral (Fig. 3)24. In this last case, the telling but
indescribable expression of the Madonna’s face is also contrasted with the
somewhat beseeching look of St. Catherine’s profile. We could furthermore
find numerous examples of Mary’s round face, of her prominent nose and
chin, her long hair (according to Mancini, Gramatica “eccede nel far i capelli”),
or a similar dress.
4. Antiveduto Gramatica,
Martha Rebuking Mary
for her Vanity,
c. 1620, Casa d'aste Pitti,
Florence, 15.05.1985
(Phot, after Papi, op. cit.)
22 The episode originates from legendary lives of Mary Magdalen, see pp.24-25, 30-31, notes
35,36,56 in this article.
23 Riedl “Ein wiedergefundenes...”, op. cito. Papi, Antiveduto Gramatica, op. cit. no. 55.
24 Ìbidem, nos.7, 39.
107