Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos
Titian and Workshop·c. 1553/1555
Historical Context
Titian and his workshop painted this Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos around 1553-55, depicting the apostle receiving his apocalyptic visions on the Greek island of his exile. The workshop production of religious subjects allowed Titian to meet the enormous demand for his work from churches and private collectors across Europe. The visionary subject suited Titian's late style, with its emphasis on atmospheric effects and spiritual intensity.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-canvas demonstrates the broader, more atmospheric brushwork of Titian's late period, with loose, expressive paint handling creating effects of visionary light. The workshop execution maintains the master's compositional vision while the surface handling varies from the most inspired passages.
Provenance
Commissioned by the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, Venice; confiscated 1806 by the state, and transferred to the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice; exchanged 1818 with (Barbini, Turin).[1] Count Bertalazione d'Arache, Turin, by 1885.[2] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence); sold 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1957 to NGA. [1] Francesco Zanotto, _Pinacoteca della I. R. Accademia Veneta di Belle Arti_, Venice, 1834: 2:n.p.; Sandra Moschini Marconi, _Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, Vol. 1: Opere d’arte del secolo XIV e XV_, Venice, 1955: xvi; Sandra Moschini Marconi, _Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, Vol. 2: Opere d’arte del secolo XVI_, Venice, 1962: 262-263. [2] Giovanni Battista Cadorin, _Note dei luoghi dove si trovano opere di Tiziano_, San Fior di Conegliano, 1885: 18. [3] On 7 June 1954 the Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi for sixteen paintings, including the NGA painting which was listed as _St. John the Evangelist (Ceiling)_ by Titian. In a draft of one of the documents prepared for the Count's signature in connection with the offer this painting is described as one "which came from my personal collection in Florence." The Count accepted the offer on 30 June 1954; the final payment for the purchase was ultimately made in early 1957, after the Count's death in 1955. (See copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files and The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1867).
