Andrea Sacchi
(1599 - 1661) |
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Portraiture, Mythological Narratives, Secular Narratives, Historic Narrativds Art Work
| Name: |
Andrea Sacchi |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Rome |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1599 |
| Death: |
1661 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Mythological Narratives, Secular Narratives, Historic Narrativds |
| Medium: |
Oil on canvas |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
Italian High Baroque |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Famed as a link in the great chain that starts with Ludovico and Annibale Carracci, Andrea Sacchi studied with Albani and in turn taught Carlo Maratta. A forceful exponent of the classical Roman baroque style, Andrea Sacchi was a gifted painter of easel and altar pictures but was less well suited for the large decorative fresco programs that patrons demanded of him. As a result, history views him as a brilliant failure whose deliberation and careful methods resulted in some of the most marvelous oils of that period, but whose later career was marred by crippling self-doubt that increasingly hampered his ability to carry out more ambitious large-scale projects. Despite the artificial division between "classicism" and "baroque," Sacchi's open debates with Pietro da Cortona* after 1637 have fueled scholars' tendency to group Sacchi with the Carracci, Albani, Reni,* and Poussin,* the opposing camp being represented by Bernini, the early Guercino,* and Pietro da Cortona. The son of Nicola Pellegrini from Fermo, Sacchi took the name of his first teacher, Benedetto Sacchi, who reportedly adopted him. His further training is variously described. Sources concur that he studied with Francesco Albani in Rome and Bologna around 1617/18; Bellori states that Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte took up the young artist. Not surprisingly, much of his early work was supported by the Cardinal. Of these, Sacchi's Vision of St. Isidore the Farmer (dated 1621/2, Rome, S. Isidoro) and The Madonna ofLoreto with St. Bartholomew, St. Joseph, St James ofCompostela and St. Francis (dated 1623/4, Nettuno, S. Francesco) reveal the young artist relying strongly on Albani, Vouet, and Cigoli to formulate his images. Sacchi's preference for few figures, carefully considered placement, and unambiguous gestures to make a maximum yet understated effect is already evident. These qualities would become increasingly apparent as he developed. By the time Cardinal del Monte died in August 1626, Sacchi was launched on a promising career. Before his death, del Monte had arranged for Sacchi to receive the commission for St. Peter's that would establish his public reputation: The Miracle of St. Gregory the Great (dated 1626). Here Sacchi's maturing talents found the perfect challenge. Beautifully reconciling both symmetry and asymmetry, and having made a fruitful and thoughtful study of Federigo Barocci, Sacchi created a masterpiece of diversely wrought poses and gestures all calculated to convey the serious and awesome message of the miraculous bloodstains held up by St. Gregory. The carefully described surfaces, the finely molded forms, and the diffusion of light and color earned Sacchi a well-deserved prominence in Rome. From 1628 to 1635 records show Sacchi producing a major picture each year. Both his drawings and his paintings reflect greater confidence and boldness. Barberini support replaced that of del Monte, earning Sacchi the distinction as the great classical exponent in the Barberini circles. Cardinal Antonio Barberini, the Pope's nephew, became Sacchi's lifelong patron. By 1637 Sacchi was a member of the Cardinal's household, and by 1640 he held a post similar to those held by writers, poets, and secretaries. Though he received several commissions for frescoes including the famous Barberini Divine Wisdom commission, none can compare to his altarpiece and easel picture commissions. Of his altar pieces, Birth of the Virgin (ca. 1628/9, Madrid, Prado) and Vision of St. Romuald commissioned and painted in 1631 for the new church of San Romualdo (Vatican City, Pinacoteca Vaticana) are the most impressive. The St. Romuald in particular, with its ghostlike vision and its quietly earnest piety, reflects Sacchi's sensitivity. Perhaps his most sustained effort was the commission, carried out between 1633 and 1650 for four allarpieces for the Chapter House of St. Peter's. Three of these, Christ Carrying the Cross and St. Veronica; St Andrew Adoring the Cross of his Martyrdom; and The Martyrdom of St. Longinus, were all completed by 1634 and show Sacchi's economical use of figures, gestures, and expressions to clearly convey the message of his story. His St. Andrew is especially powerful, adding a rare ecstatic expression to one of his scenes. Several easel pictures from the period including Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness (Cardiff, National Museum of Wales), probably painted for the Barberini, and Suicide of Dido (Caen, Musee des Beaux-Arts) are exceptionally haunting. These, like his allarpieces, are masterpieces of understatement, summation, and evocation. A very different note is struck by his portraits, in which the demands of realism add a welcome dimension to his oeuvre. Notable examples include Portrait of a Cardinal (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada) and Portrait of Francesco Albani (Madrid, Prado); these are refreshing, lively, and striking likenesses. As mentioned earlier, Sacchi's large-scale efforts were less successful. His commission from the Sacchetti around 1628, for decorations of their villa in Castel Fusano near Rome, is perhaps the loveliest of his fresco decorations, in part because each of the pastoral images, including Romulus among the Shepherds and Sacrifice to Pan, are constructed like easel pictures. The cartoons he designed for four of the eight pendentives in the Cappella della Colonna and the Cappella di S. Michele Arcangelo in St. Peter's (several preserved in Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica) are also successfully conceived individual figures. But the Divina Sapienza done between 1629 and 1631 for the largest room in the wings of the Barberini palace has been generally regarded as a failure. The figures seem overwhelmed by the space around them, and Sacchi's natural preference for expressive reticence makes the whole image seem dull and passive. Between June 1635 and November 1636 Sacchi is not recorded in Rome, making these the likely months he traveled to Northern Italy, as Passeri and Bellori report. There he made an intensive study of Correggio, among other artists. Sacchi's most significant surviving commissions upon his return were the frescoes for the Lateran Baptistry (most of which he designed but had painted by other artists, including his pupil Marratta). The eight canvases depicting the life of John the Baptist done for the Lateran S. Giovanni in Fonte are now located in the Lateran Palace. All of these are produced in Sacchi's characteristic summary style: few figures are placed in nominal settings and are engaged in actions sufficiently direct to convey the story's message. The best of the set includes the Annunciation to Zacharias, which is resplendent with wonderful accouterments including a magnificent candelabrum and the censer held by Zacharias. Zacharias may be Sacchi's finest characterization of a biblical elder. Stern and compelling, he listens to the angel's message with the dignity of statesman, and his costume is a marvelous recreation of a historic vestment. Equally brilliant is the Beheading of John the Baptist, which recounts the event in a series of interlocking, powerfully conceived, individual human forms and gestures that lead the eye from the light-holding attendant in the picture's foreground to the Baptist's head delivered on the proffered salver in the background. A masterpiece of economy, the picture also reveals Sacchi's inventiveness. He chose a commonly depicted moment in the story but treated it with considerable originality. As his own abilities matured, Sacchi began to develop an obsessively reverential attitude toward the work of Raphael and the Carracci, which undermined his self-confidence. His procrastination became legendary. He did continue to paint, however. Among the finest of his late works is the Death of St. Anne (dated 1648/9, Rome, S. Carlo ai Catinari), which has an evanescent sadness. Sacchi shared with Poussin an interest in a pictorial austerity but never aimed for the primordial effect of Poussin's later works, choosing instead a gentle sweetness and a broad lyricism. Ailing from gout, Sacchi handed over his last commissions, including the vault of S. Luigi dei Francesi of 1653 to 1660, to his most important pupil, Carlo Maratta. |
Samples of Work
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