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Description: | Giacomo Cavedone from Sassuolo near Modena (1577-1660) trained in the academy of the Carracci at Bologna where he practiced his art throughout his career. An essentially provincial artist, he achieved his most individual work around 1610-20 when the influence of the Carracci school was on the wane and that of Guido Reni who returned to reside permanently in his native city in 1614 had not yet fully taken hold. The Chiswick painting probably dates to some time after the later 1630s, and reflects the loose painterly technique and dramatic chiaroscuro (extreme contrasts of light and dark) of Reni's late style. The figure of the early Christian Latin Father, Gregory the Great is identified by his attribute of a dove, he is represented as a tall and powerful looking middle-aged man, in a manner befitting his important status among the fathers of the Church. Dressed in the red and white robes of papal authority, St Gregory's form is bright against the dark background as if to illustrate the religious illumination he brought into being. He is shown seated at a table, his fingers marking the open pages of a large bible, his head is turned heavenwards and wears an ecstatic expression, as if he is receiving divine guidance for his writings directly from the dove of the Holy Spirit that hovers by his ear. In his influential texts St Gregory the Great established the form of the Roman liturgy and its music, called Gregorian Chant. | Subjects: | religion (St Gregory); figure | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Cavedone, Giacomo (Italian painter, 1577-1660) Æ Attributed to | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8729... | Go to resource |
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