The Death of St. Peter Martyr
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo·1530–35
Historical Context
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo's Death of Saint Peter Martyr (1530–35) depicts the assassination of the Dominican inquisitor Peter of Verona, martyred near Milan in 1252. Savoldo, a Brescian painter who worked primarily in Venice, was unusual among his contemporaries for his intense interest in nocturnal and crepuscular lighting effects. This landscape setting — with the murder occurring in a forest glade under a dramatic sky — shows the influence of Giorgione's integration of figures and nature while adding a tense atmospheric realism that is distinctly Savoldo's own. His treatment of light filtering through foliage anticipates later developments in Lombard naturalism.
Technical Analysis
Savoldo's characteristic use of silvery, diffused light creates a moody atmosphere that integrates the figures with the landscape. His oil technique on canvas produces subtle tonal gradations, with particular attention to the play of light on drapery and foliage.
Provenance
Possibly John Talbot (died 1852), 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, Alton Towers, Staffordshire, by 1835, if the painting is to be identified with the “Death of Peter Martyr” by Pordenone mentioned by Gustav Friedrich Waagen, “Letter XXVIII,” in Works of art and artists in England, vol. 3 (London: J. Murray, 1838), p. 251, recording his visit to Alton Towers in 1835, or the “Peter Martyr” by Titian mentioned by Ebenezer Rhodes, The Derbyshire tourist’s guide and travelling companion… to which is added, the detail of an excursion from Dove-Dale to Ilam Hall, and Alton Towers (London: R. Goombridge, 1837), p. 271 [for the likelihood of ownership by Shrewsbury, see Gilbert 2003]; possibly by descent in the Talbot family, with a member of the family giving it to St. Alban’s Roman Catholic Church, Macclesfield, Cheshire; St. Alban’s Roman Catholic Church, Macclesfield, Cheshire, probably by 1900, but certainly by 1930 [according to letter of July 11, 2001, from John Tomasso to Nicholas Hall, copy in curatorial file]; sold to Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, Leeds, by 1990 [according to letter of June 21, 2000, from Nicholas Hall to Larry Feinberg and e-mail correspondence of February 29, 2016, between Kelli Sohanpaul and Amanda Block; copies in curatorial file]; sold by Hall and Knight, London and New York, on behalf of Tomasso Brothers; to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
