Study for "An Apotheosis of a Saint" (for San Bernardino dei Morti, Milan)

This oil sketch by Ricci from around 1695 for an Apotheosis of a Saint for San Bernardino dei Morti in Milan reveals his working method — the bravura oil sketch that captured the essential composition and coloring before the finished altarpiece. Ricci was the leading Venetian figure painter of the early eighteenth century who revived the grand tradition of Veronese's decorative compositions, and his sketches demonstrate the spontaneous energy and confident color placement that characterized his approach to large-scale commission planning. The sketch format allowed him to explore compositional alternatives and atmospheric effects with a freedom not possible in the finished commissioned work.

The freely painted oil sketch on canvas reveals Ricci's fluid, rapid technique for planning large-scale compositions, with swirling figures and dramatic foreshortening characteristic of late Baroque illusionistic ceiling painting.