f the name Gherardo delle Notti doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry about it. This Utrecht-born, 17th-century artist is the subject of the first ever monographic exhibit at the Uffizi as part of the Florentine state galleries’ commitment to presenting lesser-known artists to the general public. Seeing more than 40 of his works—close to his entire Italian output—is an excellent opportunity to get to know his art and understand his place in the chronology of art history.
His real name is Gerrit van Honthorst and he traveled to Rome around 1610, inspired by and wishing to learn the style of Caravaggio. There, he melded his northern style with the strong Roman chiaroscuro and intense religious sentiment of the time, creating his own style that was much appreciated by patrons.
An example of the artist’s work from this period is the Adoration of the Shepherds, exhibited here for the first time after it was sold through Christie’s in 2010, in which baby Jesus emits a white light that illuminates a very young Mary’s face and reflects on the joy of the humble onlookers.
This work has none of the harshness of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro, as Gherardo works with a more brown-toned palette. There is also something magically modern about this painting, which reminds me of contemporary images of people lit by their smartphones—the gods of today? Adoration images are the quintessential night scene: possibly the first night scene in Italian art is a tiny predella panel under Gentile da Fabriano’s Uffizi Adoration of the Magi; this may well be where the topos of Christ emitting light in an otherwise dark night was established, and later explored through the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
Although the religious figure provided a convenient excuse for strong lighting from one point inside the painting, another useful pre-smartphone lighting tool was the candle, which Gherardo put to good use in genre scenes. In a painting representing a Cavadenti—a scary pre-modern dentist favoured also by Caravaggio—the patient’s torture is very elegantly lit by a jaunty youth holding a candle and directing its light with his hand.
Dentistry takes place at table in the painting of Dinner with lute player or 1619-1620, a painting that was already present in the Uffizi inventory of 1623 and thus corresponds with one of Cosimo II’s purchases from the artist. Here, two candles, one hidden and one explicit, are the light sources that are used to direct a narrative: an overly good party seems to have caused the man at the head of the table to split a tooth, which is quickly attended to without a break in the festivities.
A final section of the exhibition documents Gherardo delle Notti’s influence on other painters who were present in Rome at the same time, especially on the way that night scenes were represented. The exhibition leaves us with an understanding of a painter whose work spans the religious genre, who fuses a Northern European sensibility for light with the demands of the Roman art market of the first decades of the 17th century.
Visitor Information:
Gherardo delle Notti. Most bizarre paintings and merry suppers
February 10 – May 24, Galleria degli Uffizi
Italiano
English
Recent Comments