The Vision of St Felix of Cantalice

religious

The painting represents the mystical apparition of the Virgin Mary to St Felix of Cantalice, a humble Capuchin friar who died in Rome in 1587 and was beatified in 1625, and who had been venerated as a saint even before his death. The painting was commissioned by the nobleman Giuseppe Raspa, whose striking likeness at the age of eight-two is visible at lower right, next to the family crest. The patron's wrinkled face and long beard appear so truthful and alive that they project a shadow onto the parapet in the foreground that separates the divine space from the earthbound.

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About the Artist

Carlo Ceresa

1609 – 1670

Italian painter. He was most distinguished as a portrait painter and represents the link between Giovanni Battista Moroni and the 18th-century paintings of Giacomo Ceruti and Giuseppe Ghislandi. Mostly recalled for his portraiture, he also painted altarpieces and religious works in an understated fashion. Such works as the Pietà with Saints and Donor (1628; San Giovanni Bianco, Santi Filippo e Giacomo), the Visitation with Sts Roch and Sebastian (San Gallo, nr Bergamo, Parish Church) and Christ Crucified with Four Saints (1630; San Antonio Abate, San Antonio Abbandonato) suggest that he trained with a local artist working in the Late Mannerist style, such as Enea Salmeggia (c. 1565-1626), Francesco Zucchi or Giovanni Battista Cavagna (active 1569-1613). These works also reveal the influence of 16th-century prints by such artists as Hendrick Goltzius and Aegidius Sadeler and of the art of Palma Giovane, Bartholomeus Spranger and the Cavaliere d'Arpino. The St Roch between Sts Bartholomew and Sebastian (1630; Pianca, Santi Antonio e Nicola da Bari), almost certainly an ex-voto painted on the outbreak of the plague, and the altarpiece of the Holy Family with Saints (1631; San Pietro d'Orzio, San Pietro) draw on similar sources.

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