Giuseppe Nuvolone (1619 - 1703) Madonna with Saint Dominic

Giuseppe Nuvolone (San Gimignano, 1619 - Milan, 1703)
Madonna of the Rosary with Saint Dominic
Oil on canvas, 104 x 75 cm - with frame 125 x 100 cm

The canvas presented here reveals the characters of Lombard painting of the seventeenth century softened, however, by a clear interest in Emilian culture, especially Bolognese. This formula of fusion between the two traditions, Lombard and Emilian, is typical of the Nuvolone family of artists active in the Milan of the seventeenth century and, in particular, of the two sons of the progenitor Panfilo, namely Carlo Francesco (1609-1662) and Giuseppe (1619 -1703). These collaborated in the decoration of the Chapel of the Sacro Monte d'Orta and in the frescoes in San Francesco in Trecate. Giuseppe, in fact, always remained stylistically linked to Carlo Francesco, although he differed for a greater liveliness of colors and for the great harmony and compositional complexity, as can be seen from the numerous works preserved in Milan, Novara, Cremona, Bergamo and Brescia. In this regard, the work in question is referred to the catalog of Giuseppe Nuvolone, presenting itself as a similar redaction, varied in format, of the canvas depicting the Madonna del Rosario adored by Saints Domenico and Caterina da Siena, datable to about 1671 and preserved in the Milanese church of Santa Maria della Passione, but originally located in the chapel of the Rosary of the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano of the Augustinian Fathers. Comparing the works, we note the clear correspondence between the group of the Madonna and Child and St. Dominic, in both cases deriving from a previous model, the altarpiece preserved at the Civic Museum of Piacenza, datable to 1665 and depicting the Madonna with the Child and Saints Jerome and Benedict. As can be understood by juxtaposing the three images, the group of the Virgin, as well as the pose of St. Benedict, show similarities and minimal variations. Furthermore, the plastic and vigorous solemnity of the Madonna recalls the canvas of the Albertina Academy in Turin, depicting the Madonna nursing the child. Keeping these data in mind, the canvas can be placed around the early 1970s, when Carlo Francesco had disappeared and Giuseppe was preparing to mature and strengthen his own pictorial language. In this regard, analyzing the composition it is inevitable the reference to his brother's works such as the Madonna and Child adored by Saints Carlo Borromeo and Felice da Cantafelice (1647), preserved at the National Gallery of Parma, equally the face of the Virgin recalls the faces of angelic beauty of the Madonnas of Carlo Francesco, with soft, sweet and abundant shapes, such as the Immaculate Conception of the Castello Sforzesco. However, compared to the latter, Giuseppe's painting becomes more intense and solemn in the vivacity of the tones and in the complexity of the compositions. In this case, the fluffy and candid complexion is striking, kissed by the golden light that comes from above, as well as the rendering of the robes with large and soft draperies and the veil, on which the painter creates transparency effects to make the lightness and delicacy. All this contributes to transmitting a sense of love and harmony, perfectly coinciding with the subject depicted. Reference bibliography: Filippo Maria Ferro, “Nuvolone. A family of painters in Milan in the 1600s ", Soncino 2003, pp. 258-259, fig. 128b