Da 'Madonna della neve' ad 'Assunzione della Vergine'. Un'altra pala del Guercino per Sebastiano Fabri

• Autores: Enrico Ghetti
• Localización: Paragone. Parte arte, ISSN 1120-4737, Nº 141, 2018, págs. 51-67
• Idioma: italiano
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• Resumen

  • Important new data is presented on the masterpiece by Guercino in the Detroit Institute of Arts, which has been identified as the "Assumption of the Virgin" painted for Naples in 1650. The lower part of a faithful workshop copy in Salsomaggiore -extending the evidently cropped autograph painting- represents the miarcle of Santa Maria Maggiore, thus implying that the true subject of the work was the "Madonna of the Snow", a title mentioned in the Libro dei conti in 1661 as commisioned by Sebastiano Fabri. Since its payment appears incomplete it was presumed that the work was never carried out. A letter from Marcantonio Franceschini to the Prince of Liechtenstein describes the work precisely, proving that it was indeed finished, but that it remained in the master's workshop when he died in 1666. These circumstances prompt the autor to further investigate the Prince's interest in Guercino: through Franceschini he purchased two "Heads of Young Men" and a "Figure of Mars", which had also remained with the painter's nephews on his death. The detailed description of the latter clearly rules out its identification with the Dionysos Art Fund picture, attributed to Guercino but unquestionably by his workshop.