Denys Calvaert

Private collection, Italy;

Private collection, Rome;

Art market, Paris;

Where acquired by the present owner.

This recently rediscovered painting by Denys Calvaert, known also as Dionisio Fiammingo, can be compared with two pictures of the same subject in Bologna, where the artist spent most of his career. The depiction of God the Father and His facial type are very similar to His representation in Calvaert's altarpiece for the Basilica of S. Domenico,¹ while the table just left of centre, the cloth that covers it and the book that leans against the base of the altar can all be found in the picture in the Chapel of Santa Maria dei Bulgari, which is dated to 1582.²

^This picture typifies Calvaert’s ability in marrying the vibrancy and detailed finish of his Flemish heritage with the Mannerist tradition he adopted in Bologna: a skill that would define his output. Around 1560, Calvaert moved from Antwerp to Bologna, where he trained first with Prospero Fontana (1512–1597) and later Lorenzo Sabatini (c. 1530–1576), with whom he would collaborate on a number of works, including the Holy Family with the Archangel Michael in the Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore, datable to c. 1568–70.³ In 1572, upon receiving a commission from Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585) to decorate the Papal Palace, Sabatini and Calvaert traveled to Rome. Calvaert remained there for three prolific years, during which time he studied the works of Michelangelo (1475–1564), Sebastiano del Piombo (1485/86–1547), Raphael (1483–1520) and Correggio (act. 1514–1534), the latter of whom, along with Parmigianino (1503–1540) and Federico Barocci (c. 1535–1612), would have a lasting influence on the painter. Calvaert returned to Bologna in 1575 and established a painting school, where Guido Reni (1575–1642), Domenichino (1581–1641) and Francesco Albani (1578–1660), among others, received their initial training. 

¹ Oil on canvas; 330 x 230 cm.; ZERI FOUNDATION | ONLINE CATALOGUES : Calvaert Denijs, Annunciation.

² Oil on canvas; 229 x 155 cm.; ZERI FOUNDATION | ONLINE CATALOGUES : Calvaert Denijs, Annunciation.

³ Oil on canvas, 309 x 178 cm.; https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/entry/work/40382/.