San Carlo Borromeo

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
18th century, Oil on canvas

This original elliptical painting, in good condition and still in its original rose frame, was a pendant work to a depiction of San Francesco di Paola documented in 1986 in Rome: the pair are attributed to Piazzetta and date from the fourth and fifth decades of the 18th century. The attribution to Piazzetta is due to the optical impressionism of the work, and the combination of the chiaroscuro that seems to blur and dissolve the drawing and the subtle hatching of brushstrokes on the face depicting shadow and light. This poignant style of Piazzetta is suited to different expressive needs, both demure and coquettish, penitent and devout. The saint depicted here is not the usual figure of much Lombard iconography, emaciated from fasting or contemplating skulls: his vague sentimentality distances this Saint Charles from an ascetic or mystical role and immerses him instead in a vast, subtle, and iridescent world.