MARCO PALMEZZANO Lot n° 21

(Forli, 1459 - 1539) Saint Jerome Signed on the cartouche at lower right 'Marchus Palmezanus/pictor forlivensis/faciebat/MCCCCCXXXIII' Oil on panel, 67X49 cm Provenance: Rome, antiquarian market, 19th cent. Marquis Raniero Paulucci Collection (1895). Private collection Bibliography: E. Calzini, Marco Palmezzano and his works, in Archivio Storico dell'Arte, VII, 1894, p. 68. C. Grigioni, Marco Palmezzano pittore forlivese nella vita, nelle opere, nell'arte, Faenza 1956, p. 538, CXCI; p. 546, no. 64 The painting is an important testimony to Marco Palmezzano's mature activity, when the artist was particularly dedicated to painting images intended for private devotion, employing proven iconographies that were of particular interest to patrons. But while in the large-format works one can sense the preponderant intervention of the workshop and consequent inconsistencies in quality, the 'room' paintings are characterized by meticulous technical solidity. This fact is particularly evident when analyzing the panel depicting the Annunciation also made in 1633 and destined for Serviti di Forlimpopoli, in which a clumsy use of cartoons and the use of less precious pigments are evident, denoting a poorly supervised management by the master. Returning to the work presented here, it finds similarities with the one preserved in the Museo di Palazzo Barberini, which, likely dated to 1503, stands as a model for later redactions (fig. 1, oil on panel, 84X64 cm; cf. L. Mochi Onori, R. Vodret, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica. Palazzo Barberini, The Paintings. Systematic Catalogue, 2008, p. 300; S. Tumidei, Studies on Painting in Emilia and Romagna. Da Melozzo a Federico Zuccari, 1987-2008, 2011, p. 167), including the one formerly by Stroganoff from 1537 -1538 now belonging to the Cini Gallery in Venice (Fig. 2, oil on canvas, 60X62 cm; cf. La Galleria di Palazzo Cini. Paintings, sculptures, art objects, edited by A. Bacchi, A. De Marchi, Venice 2016, p. 415). Reference bibliography: Marco Palmezzano, il Rinascimento nelle Romagne, exhibition catalog edited by A. Paulucci, L. Prati, S. Tumidei, Milan 2005, ad vocem