Christ Taking Leave of his Mother and Foretelling his Passion c.1600-49
Oil on canvas | 120.5 x 100.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403248
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The incident of Christ taking leave of his mother is not mentioned in the Gospels but is told in the Pseudo-Bonaventura's Meditations on the Life of Christ. The present composition is an unusually elaborate development of theme. Christ stands at the right, with his right hand on his chest and his left pointing upwards, presumably indicating his heavenly father's will. In the sky above Christ is God the Father, seated on clouds, and three angels bearing the instruments of the Passion; the Cross and hammer; the spear, the reed with the sponge and nails; and the column and flails. In the foreground, opposite Christ, stands the Virgin Mary. She is weeping as she contemplates Christ's future. In the sky immediately above her head a child angel holds the crown of thorns and a dagger or short sword, presumably referring to Simeon's prophecy to her: 'Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.' (Luke 2.35).
The picture is of high quality and it is now thought likely to be by Turchi himself. No other comparable composition by him seems to exist, so this painting could conceivably be the one painted by Turchi for his patrons the Gherardini family at Verona. The Gherardini collection was dispersed at some time in the eighteenth century, when the picture could have been acquired by Joseph Smith, who is known to have acquired other pictures by Turchi from Verona.Provenance
Acquired in 1762 by George III from Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice (Italian List no 235); recorded in the Great Room of the Library at Buckingham Palace in 1790
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
120.5 x 100.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
136.0 x 115.4 x 5.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)