4
Agostino Scilla (Messina, 1629 - Roma, 1700)
St. John the Baptist Preaching to the Crowds, 17th century
Oil on canvas
H 204x161 cm - in frame H 268x203 cm
Expertise and video by Professor Claudio Strinati: "The painting is constructed with a criterion typical of this eminent painter, whose autograph I confirm, already highly revalued by historiography for some time but still awaiting a full redefinition by contemporary critics. Of Sicilian origin, Scilla had an important Roman period where he approached the style and manners of Pier Francesco Mola and Andrea Sacchi. In our painting such influences, especially that of Mola, appear evident. The thin and very tall figure of the Baptist dominates the scene set in a dark but clearly delineated landscape. The crowd gathers around him and there is a certain, I would say deliberate, accentuation of the oriental types according to a criterion that tends to visually reconstruct the stories told in the figure, in a fantastic and plausible way at the same time.
The work in question here, moreover, seems to bear an initials in the top right-hand corner (although difficult to decipher) which could perhaps be read as AS, an initials which Scilla sometimes places in his paintings.
The state of conservation is good but it should be noted that the painting must have been subjected to some drastic cleaning in the past which would have then made it necessary to apply numerous and widespread retouching, which in my opinion could easily be removed with a new and more up-to-date intervention.
Our painting appears to be datable to the period that goes from the formidable cycle of frescoes in the Cathedral of Syracuse (1657-60) to some celebrated monumental altarpieces such as that of the dying Saint Hilarion which I believe can undoubtedly be usefully compared with our painting. Our work dates shortly after 1670, the year in which Scilla published a remarkable volume entitled La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso which is the first treatise on paleontology ever published in Italy, a discipline in which Scilla was a great specialist.
His character is very complex and full of extra-aesthetic references, of which our work seems to be a significant testimony.
In faith,
"Claudio Strinati"
Non-coeval frame. Sicilian painter of the 17th century.
Non-coeval frame. Sicilian painter of the 17th century.
15.000,00 €
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