The Madonna with the Seven Founders of the Servite Order
Agostino Masucci·c. 1728
Historical Context
Agostino Masucci painted The Madonna with the Seven Founders of the Servite Order around 1728, a devotional commission celebrating the seven Florentine merchants who founded the Servite order in 1233. Masucci was a leading Roman painter of the early eighteenth century, trained under Carlo Maratti, who maintained the classical tradition in Rome during the transition from Baroque to Rococo. His altarpieces and devotional paintings served the major religious orders and Roman churches.
Technical Analysis
Masucci's oil on canvas demonstrates the classical Roman tradition inherited from Maratti, with balanced composition and idealized figure types. The luminous palette and smooth modeling of forms reflect the continuation of the Raphaelesque tradition in eighteenth-century Roman religious painting.
Provenance
Sold Christie’s, London, November 29, 1968, lot 63 to Angel. Sold Christie's, London, October 31, 1969, lot 200 to Colnaghi, London; sold by Colnaghi at Sotheby's, London, December 10, 1975, lot 52 [acc. to Georgina Duits of Colnaghi, letter of July 25, 2002, in curatorial file]. Julius Weitzner, London by 1977; sold to the Art Institute, 1977.
