People spending the Easter holidays in Italy and in particular in Florence will be able to see once again the "Deposizione e Resurrezione di Gesù" (Lamenting over the Dead Christ and the Resurrection) by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini.
The painting - restored at the Opificio delle pietre dure (Workshop of semi-precious stones) through a project financially supported by Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun - was reinstalled last Thursday in the San Carlo dei Lombardi Church.
Vasari attributed the painting to Taddeo Gaddi and the work was removed from the altar in 1616 when the church was dedicated to the Compagnia di San Carlo dei Lombardi, devoted to Saint Charles Borromeo, and was later on displayed in the Uffizi.
The return of the painting in this church coincides with the Holy Week and the Easter celebrations, but critics hope the restoration will shed new light on the life of Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, who lived in Florence between 1368 and 1414.
A follower of the school of Giotto di Bondone and painting in the tradition of Andrea di Orcagna and Taddeo Gaddi, Niccolò di Pietro Gerini was known for his Gothic depictions, with frontally displaced figures characterised by sloping foreheads, and sharp noses.
The subject is not ill arranged in this work, but it is similar to other paintings depicting the same scene (such as one attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, though the composition features Giottoesque forms). The body of the Saviour is extended on a sheet, held up at each end by two apostles. The Virgin Mary holds the head of Jesus, and an apostle kisses his hand, while other characters surround him in attitude of lamentation. The loss and mourning scene transforms in the upper part of the painting into the Resurrection, with another typical composition portraying Christ clothed in a white winding sheet raising his right arm and grasping a banner in his left.
Gerini seemed to have a passion for fierce and lively colours and with mutating shades and tones that he applied in particular to draped elements. The characters surrounding Jesus wear ruddy orange, greeny-blue, sienna red, pale lilac and bright pink robes. These nuances call to mind some of the marble details on the tomb where Christ is deposed, and, while looking like chromatic disharmonies, they actually point towards light and hope. The rose pink nuances seem to prevail and they reappear and intensify in the angels' robes in the upper part of the scene, symbolising the colour of sunrise and calling to mind the colour of Charity, while Jesus' white robe hints at purity and at the colour of Faith.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Comments