Bernardo Strozzi
(Italy 1581–02 Sep 1644)
The release of St Peter
- Other titles:
- The release of Saint Peter
- Location
- 15th–19th c European art
- Further information
Bernardo Strozzi's experience as a Capuchin monk only partly explains the certainties presented for contemplation in this master-ful canvas. Far more telling are the formal conventions of baroque painting that underscore its every detail, from its diagonal dynamic to its brazen colouring. This work can almost be read as a dictionary of Counter-Reformation precepts. 'The release of St Peter' responds to the Catholic doctrines that reinvigorated European art at the beginning of the seventeenth century. These centred on a call to arms to artists for greater realism and a more directly rendered spirituality. The angel delivering Peter from his bonds is depicted with the naturalism of an artisan going about a chore, while the saint himself is shown in glassy-eyed ecstasy - a favourite condition of baroque painting. Strozzi divides his pigment into areas of flashy impasto and delicate glazing. Flesh, fabrics, feathers and furry tufts of hair are indicated in brilliant passages of 'alla prima' painting.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
- Year
- circa 1635
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 124.5 x 113.0cm stretcher; 149.0 x 138.5 x 8.0cm frame
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1965
- Accession number
- OO1.1966
- Provenance
- K.J. Hewett Ltd. London (England), pre Oct 1965, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from K.J. Hewett Ltd. 1965
Dr O.A. Burchard (England, d.1965), pre 1965, England, Purchased by K.J. Hewett Ltd, executor of Dr Burchard's estate, 1965.
Private Collection, pre 1965, Switzerland, dates unknown, before Burchard
Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna (Austria), pre 1965, Vienna/Austria, dates unknown, after Van Diemen
Van Diemen (Germany), circa 1921-circa 1955, Berlin/Germany, [dealer] in Van Diemen's collection by 1921-1955
Palazzo Labia (Italy), Venice/Italy, possibly the 'Release of St Peter' which was in the Palazzo Labia
