The Risen Christ

Simone Cantarini (Italian (active in Pesaro and Bologna), 1612–1648)

1644–48

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

Dimensions250.82 x 207.33 cm (98 3/4 x 81 5/8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Azita Bina and Elmar W. Seibel and Henry H. and Zoe Oliver Sherman Fund

Accession number2002.340

On View

On view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Europe

Description

With arm outstretched toward us, Christ’s pose is attention-grabbing, his open palm displaying the Crucifixion wound. For this imposing altarpiece, Cantarini was inspired by Annibale Carracci’s 1593 Resurrection (now in the Louvre), which hung in the Church of the Corpus Domini in Bologna when Cantarini studied there. However, he executed it in a grander, more heroic style learned while a student in the workshop of painter Guido Reni.

ProvenanceAbout July, 1647, completed for the Confraternity of the Grotto, Urbino; by April 10, 1648, installed in the Chapel of the Resurrection in the confraternity's oratory in the crypt of the Duomo, Urbino; 1651, transferred to the main altar of the crypt; June, 1659, sold by the confraternity to an unknown private collector, Bologna [see note 1]. 18th century, possibly the Isolani family, Bologna [see note 2]. 1812, possibly the Hercolani family, Bologna [see note 3]. Early 20th century, an unknown collection, Bologna [see note 4]. December 10, 1980, anonymous ("property of a gentleman") sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 74, to a private collector, New York. April 11, 1986, anonymous sale, Christie's, London, lot 72, to Azita Bina-Seibel and Elmar W. Seibel, Boston; 2002, gift of Azita Bina-Seibel and Elmar W. Seibel to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 25, 2002)

NOTES:
[1] In 1644, the confraternity commissioned the altarpiece from Cantarini. On July 28, 1647, Cantarini wrote that the painting "would be complete within a few days." It was installed in 1648, but the humidity in the crypt proved to be unsuitable for the work, which was restored twice before it was sold in 1659. See Franco Negroni, Il Duomo di Urbino (Urbino: Accademia Raffaello, 1993), 170 and, for a full discussion of the commission and early provenance, Andrea Emiliani, ed., Simone Cantarini, detto il Pesarese (1612-1648) (exh. cat., Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, 1997-1998), pp. 191-192, cat. no. L59.

[2] Marcello Oretti (1714-1787) recorded a painting of the Resurrection by Cantarini at the Casa Isolani in the piazza Santo Stefano, Bologna.

[3] This may be the painting of the resurrection by Cantarini that was exhibited by the Hercolani family on June 14, 1812 in the portico of Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna.

[4] See Andrea Emiliani, ed., Mostra di Disegni del Seicento Emiliano nella Pinacoteca di Brera (exh. cat. Brera, Milan, 1959), p. 32, cat. no. 11.