DOI article:
Ffoulkes, Constance Jocelyn: Notes on two pictures ascribed to Vincenzo Foppa
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61695#0079
Notes on two pictures ascribed to Vincenzo Foppa.
By C. Jocelyn Ffoulkes.
Two pictures bearing the illustrious name of Vincenzo Foppa, the one
in the Berlin Gallery the other in a private collection in Paris, have long been
persistently confused with one another. Both compositions represent the Pieta
and both canie originally, it is said, from the Church of S. Pietro in
Gessate at Milan; but here all connection between them ends, for while
the Berlin picture is a strikingly characteristic work and must indeed
have been one of Foppa’s masterpieces, the other seems beneath the
level of his art.
It must however be stated at once that both pictures are known to
the writer only in reproductions and it is therefore from the historical
standpoint alone that it is proposed to deal with them now. In the case
of the Berlin picture Hanfstaengel’s admirable photograph probably affords
more satisfaction than would a direct study of the picture, which is said
to be in a bad state owing to the decomposition of old varnishes and
other causes, and on this account may possibly not be thought worthy of
a place in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum.1)
The earliest authority who has left us a detailed account of the
b The Berlin picture is a composition of seven nearly life-sized flgures.
The dead Body of our Lord, supported by Nicodemus and the Magdalen lies on
the lap of His mother; St. John the Evangelist in the act of removing the
crown of thorns Stands at the head; on the right are two Holy Women and
in the background is Calvary with soldiers and horsemen, a walled city intended
to represent Jerusalem, and distant landscape; on the extreme right is a high
rock with the sepulchre seen through a cave-like opening.
Tempera Panel, 2. 04 h. 1. 65 w.
In the Paris picture the flgures are of mach smaller dimensions: the Madonna
is seated at the foot of the cross with the dead Body of Christ on her knee;
the three Holy Women Support the head, the right hand and the feet; behind
this group stand Joseph of Arimathea, St. John and Nicodemus. A ladder rests
against the left arm of the cross and above are two angels contemplating the
scene with clasped hands. In the background is a city on a hill on the right,
and a rock with buildings on the left; in the centre buildings and landscape.
Panel, 1. 71. h; 1. 01. w.
XXV 5
By C. Jocelyn Ffoulkes.
Two pictures bearing the illustrious name of Vincenzo Foppa, the one
in the Berlin Gallery the other in a private collection in Paris, have long been
persistently confused with one another. Both compositions represent the Pieta
and both canie originally, it is said, from the Church of S. Pietro in
Gessate at Milan; but here all connection between them ends, for while
the Berlin picture is a strikingly characteristic work and must indeed
have been one of Foppa’s masterpieces, the other seems beneath the
level of his art.
It must however be stated at once that both pictures are known to
the writer only in reproductions and it is therefore from the historical
standpoint alone that it is proposed to deal with them now. In the case
of the Berlin picture Hanfstaengel’s admirable photograph probably affords
more satisfaction than would a direct study of the picture, which is said
to be in a bad state owing to the decomposition of old varnishes and
other causes, and on this account may possibly not be thought worthy of
a place in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum.1)
The earliest authority who has left us a detailed account of the
b The Berlin picture is a composition of seven nearly life-sized flgures.
The dead Body of our Lord, supported by Nicodemus and the Magdalen lies on
the lap of His mother; St. John the Evangelist in the act of removing the
crown of thorns Stands at the head; on the right are two Holy Women and
in the background is Calvary with soldiers and horsemen, a walled city intended
to represent Jerusalem, and distant landscape; on the extreme right is a high
rock with the sepulchre seen through a cave-like opening.
Tempera Panel, 2. 04 h. 1. 65 w.
In the Paris picture the flgures are of mach smaller dimensions: the Madonna
is seated at the foot of the cross with the dead Body of Christ on her knee;
the three Holy Women Support the head, the right hand and the feet; behind
this group stand Joseph of Arimathea, St. John and Nicodemus. A ladder rests
against the left arm of the cross and above are two angels contemplating the
scene with clasped hands. In the background is a city on a hill on the right,
and a rock with buildings on the left; in the centre buildings and landscape.
Panel, 1. 71. h; 1. 01. w.
XXV 5