DOI Artikel:
Fabiański, Marcin: The Madonna and Child in Frombork and her Artistic Sources
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20613#0105
Folia Historiae Artium, t. XXVIII (1992)
PL ISSN 0071-6723
MARCIN FABIAŃSKI
THE MADONNA AND CHILD IN FROMBORK AND HER ARTISTIC SOURCES
In memory of Professor Józef Lepiarczyk
In 1722 Reverend Piętro Ruggieri (one of Coper-
nicus s successors as a canon of the cathedral in
Frombork (Frauenburg in the diocese of Warmia/
Ermeland, north Poland) had an altarpiece Madonna
and Child Adored by Saint Charles Borromeo and
Saint Catherine Vigri of Bologna sent from Romę to
his minster1 (Fig. 1). Ali that has been asserted about
the picture is that it was painted at the beginning
of the 18th century in the circle of Carlo Maratti
(1625—1713), the most eminent member of the Ro-
man Academy of Saint Lukę at the time.
The centre of the composition is taken up by
Mary seated in clouds and gazing down right toward
the nun saint, who kneels facing the spectator. The
nudę sprawling Child looks, instead, in the opposite
direction, to the Cardinal saint, seen in profile, and
blesses him. Thus a sense of dynamie movements in
two opposing slants is imparted to the central group
in the picture. The clouds studded with heads of smali
angels enhance the atmosphere of a vision2: close as
the saints are to the Madonna, they themseWes
already belong to the real world marked by the
pavement and the altar step so it is only their sight
that connects them with the apparition. The scene is
painted in rather cool and light colours, in a fairly
1 Cf. M. Arszyński and M. Kutzner, Braniewo, Frombork,
Orneta i okolice (Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Seria Nowa, II:
Województwo elbląskie, 1, Warszawa 1980), pp. 61—62. An older
identification of the saint as Teresa (e.g. A. Boetticher, Die Bau-
und Kunstdenkmaler der Provinz Ostpreussen, IV: Das Ermland,
Kónigsberg 1894, p. 94; and recently T. Chrzanowski, Przewod-
nik po zabytkowych kościołach północnej Warmii, Olsztyn 1978, p.
46) is incorrect as the nun saint does not wear a Carmelite frock,
which is an attribute of Saint Teresa. The right identification was
given already by bishop J. Obłąk, Katedra we Fromborku, Olsztyn
1969, p. 23. A lily, book, nun’ s attire and the vicinity to the Christ
Child are the attributes of Saint Catherine Vigri of Bologna
(1413—1456, canonized in 1712). Cf. Iexikon der chństlichen
Ikonographie, ed. E. Kirchbaum und W. Braunfels, 7,
Rom—Freiburg—Basel—Wien 1974, col. 306 (entry by B. Schną -
free and soft manner. The composition must be due
to an experienced artist, even if some details, like the
chubby heads of smali angels, have been painted
somewhat awkwardly.
The present picture may be referred to the oeuvre
of Maratti not only because of the peculiar pose of
Saint Charles, similar to that of Saint Gaetano in his
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Altieri chapel in
the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Romę,
but also thanks to the characteristic facial type of
Mary. Her round physiognomy with a classical nose,
soft smile and large, semi-closed eyes recurrs freąuen-
tly in the master’s paintings, e.g. The Holy Family in
the Galleria Corsini in Romę. The specific layout of
figures arranged diagonally in supple clouds hovering
immediately in front of the beholder was his creation,
too, e.g. the Madonna and Child in Ancona (1672), or
Vision of Saint Charles in San Carlo al Corso in Romę
(1686—1690)3. The Frombork altarpiece, however, is
far too painterly to attribute it to Maratti’s work-
shop. In this respect it is rather akin to the opposite
artistic current in Romę, represented by the schools
of Piętro da Cortona and Baciccia.
Some traits similar to those of the present picture
recur in an altarpiece Madonna and Child with Saints
ckenburg) and G. Grassetti, Vita di Santa Caterina di Bologna,
Bologna 1876.
2 For this way of introducing visions and apparitions see e.g.
P. L. De Vecchi, Ritratto di una apparizione - Appunti in margine
alla Madonna Sistina [in:] La Madonna per San Sisto di Raffaello
e la cultura piacentina della prima meta del Cinąuecento. Atti del
Convegno, Piacenza 10 dicembre 1983, Roma 1985, pp. 38—39; S.
Ringbom, Action and Report: The Problem of Indirect Narration
in the Academic Theory of Painting (Journal of the Warburg and
Courtauld Institutes, 52, 1989), p. 37.
3 For these works by Maratti see: A. Mezzetti, Carlo
Maratti: altri contributi (Arte antica e moderna, 13—16, 1961)
(Studi si storia delFarte. Raccolta di saggi dedicati a Roberto
Longhi in occasione del suo settantesimo compleanno, Firenze
1961), p. 380.
101
PL ISSN 0071-6723
MARCIN FABIAŃSKI
THE MADONNA AND CHILD IN FROMBORK AND HER ARTISTIC SOURCES
In memory of Professor Józef Lepiarczyk
In 1722 Reverend Piętro Ruggieri (one of Coper-
nicus s successors as a canon of the cathedral in
Frombork (Frauenburg in the diocese of Warmia/
Ermeland, north Poland) had an altarpiece Madonna
and Child Adored by Saint Charles Borromeo and
Saint Catherine Vigri of Bologna sent from Romę to
his minster1 (Fig. 1). Ali that has been asserted about
the picture is that it was painted at the beginning
of the 18th century in the circle of Carlo Maratti
(1625—1713), the most eminent member of the Ro-
man Academy of Saint Lukę at the time.
The centre of the composition is taken up by
Mary seated in clouds and gazing down right toward
the nun saint, who kneels facing the spectator. The
nudę sprawling Child looks, instead, in the opposite
direction, to the Cardinal saint, seen in profile, and
blesses him. Thus a sense of dynamie movements in
two opposing slants is imparted to the central group
in the picture. The clouds studded with heads of smali
angels enhance the atmosphere of a vision2: close as
the saints are to the Madonna, they themseWes
already belong to the real world marked by the
pavement and the altar step so it is only their sight
that connects them with the apparition. The scene is
painted in rather cool and light colours, in a fairly
1 Cf. M. Arszyński and M. Kutzner, Braniewo, Frombork,
Orneta i okolice (Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Seria Nowa, II:
Województwo elbląskie, 1, Warszawa 1980), pp. 61—62. An older
identification of the saint as Teresa (e.g. A. Boetticher, Die Bau-
und Kunstdenkmaler der Provinz Ostpreussen, IV: Das Ermland,
Kónigsberg 1894, p. 94; and recently T. Chrzanowski, Przewod-
nik po zabytkowych kościołach północnej Warmii, Olsztyn 1978, p.
46) is incorrect as the nun saint does not wear a Carmelite frock,
which is an attribute of Saint Teresa. The right identification was
given already by bishop J. Obłąk, Katedra we Fromborku, Olsztyn
1969, p. 23. A lily, book, nun’ s attire and the vicinity to the Christ
Child are the attributes of Saint Catherine Vigri of Bologna
(1413—1456, canonized in 1712). Cf. Iexikon der chństlichen
Ikonographie, ed. E. Kirchbaum und W. Braunfels, 7,
Rom—Freiburg—Basel—Wien 1974, col. 306 (entry by B. Schną -
free and soft manner. The composition must be due
to an experienced artist, even if some details, like the
chubby heads of smali angels, have been painted
somewhat awkwardly.
The present picture may be referred to the oeuvre
of Maratti not only because of the peculiar pose of
Saint Charles, similar to that of Saint Gaetano in his
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Altieri chapel in
the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Romę,
but also thanks to the characteristic facial type of
Mary. Her round physiognomy with a classical nose,
soft smile and large, semi-closed eyes recurrs freąuen-
tly in the master’s paintings, e.g. The Holy Family in
the Galleria Corsini in Romę. The specific layout of
figures arranged diagonally in supple clouds hovering
immediately in front of the beholder was his creation,
too, e.g. the Madonna and Child in Ancona (1672), or
Vision of Saint Charles in San Carlo al Corso in Romę
(1686—1690)3. The Frombork altarpiece, however, is
far too painterly to attribute it to Maratti’s work-
shop. In this respect it is rather akin to the opposite
artistic current in Romę, represented by the schools
of Piętro da Cortona and Baciccia.
Some traits similar to those of the present picture
recur in an altarpiece Madonna and Child with Saints
ckenburg) and G. Grassetti, Vita di Santa Caterina di Bologna,
Bologna 1876.
2 For this way of introducing visions and apparitions see e.g.
P. L. De Vecchi, Ritratto di una apparizione - Appunti in margine
alla Madonna Sistina [in:] La Madonna per San Sisto di Raffaello
e la cultura piacentina della prima meta del Cinąuecento. Atti del
Convegno, Piacenza 10 dicembre 1983, Roma 1985, pp. 38—39; S.
Ringbom, Action and Report: The Problem of Indirect Narration
in the Academic Theory of Painting (Journal of the Warburg and
Courtauld Institutes, 52, 1989), p. 37.
3 For these works by Maratti see: A. Mezzetti, Carlo
Maratti: altri contributi (Arte antica e moderna, 13—16, 1961)
(Studi si storia delFarte. Raccolta di saggi dedicati a Roberto
Longhi in occasione del suo settantesimo compleanno, Firenze
1961), p. 380.
101