Saint Roch

Giovanni Canavesio was a painter active in the Ligurian-Provençal region in the late fifteenth century, producing frescoes and altarpieces for churches in the Maritime Alps. This Saint Roch from around 1487 reflects the widespread veneration of the plague saint in Mediterranean communities devastated by recurrent epidemics. Canavesio's energetic style served the devotional needs of Ligurian and Piedmontese parishes.

Tempera on panel with vigorous figure drawing characteristic of Ligurian painting. Saint Roch's pilgrim attributes and plague wound are rendered with the iconographic precision expected in devotional images of this popular saint.