Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2015
Meet the Masters: Highlights from the Scottish National Gallery
Domenichino: The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1607-10
Dr Christopher Allen
18/19 March 2015
Lecture summary:
Domenico Zampieri, known as Domenichino, was one of the most important artists of the early
seventeenth century in Rome; he was among Annibale Carracci’s closest assistants in the painting
of the Galleria Farnese and in later commissions, and of all his pupils the most faithful heir of his
master’s style. He was highly respected by Poussin and later the most important critic of the age,
Bellori, but suffered all his life from the jealousy of rivals, who complained that he was slow and
unsuited to what we now call the baroque style of opulent decoration. He was particularly the
target of a sustained campaign by his rival and fellow Carracci alumnus Lanfranco, who accused
him of plagiarizing the idea of his great Last Communion of Saint Jerome. Later, when he went to
Naples to undertake one of the biggest and most lucrative commissions of his day, he was
subjected to vicious tactics by a cabal of local painters who had already driven Guido Reni out of
town.
The Adoration of the Shepherds in Edinburgh is a youthful work, painted around the time of
Annibale’s death and before his most famous commissions, but it already displays many of the
characteristics of Domenichino’s style, in particular his overriding concern for the expression of the
feelings of the participants in the scene.
Slide list: NB – all works by Domenichino unless otherwise specified
1. Self-portrait at about 30, c. 1610-12
2. Domenichino, after drawing by Annibale Carracci, Lady and the Unicorn, 1602
Rome, Palazzo Farnese
3. The Lamentation, 1603, oil on copper, 53 x 37.5 cm, New York, Metropolitan
4. The Death of Adonis, c. 1603-04, fresco, Palazzo Farnese
5. Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi, c. 1621, York, City Art Gallery
6. Liberation of Saint Peter, 1604, oil on canvas, Rome, San Pietro in Vincoli
7. Frescoes of Saint Jerome, Rome, Courtyard of Sant’Onofrio
8. Moses and the burning bush, c. 1610-16, oil on copper, 45.1 x 34 cm, New York, Metropolitan
9. Tobias and the Angel, 1610-13, oil on copper, 45.1 x 33.9 cm, London, National Gallery
10. The Flagellation of Saint Andrew, 1608-1609, fresco, Rome, San Gregorio Magno
11. The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1607-10, oil on canvas, 143 x 115 cm, Edinburgh, National
Gallery of Scotland
12. The Charity of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi
13. Saint Cecilia refuses to worship the pagan gods, c. 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei
Francesi
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14. The Martrydom of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi
15. The Apotheosis of Saint Cecilia, 1612-15, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi
16. The Angel crowns Sts Cecilia and Valerian, fresco, Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi
17. The Last Communion of Saint Jerome, 1614, oil on canvas, 419 x 256 cm, Vatican Museum
18. The Flaying of Marsyas, 1616-18, fresco from Villa Aldobrandini, London, National Gallery
19. Apollo and Daphne, 1616-18, fresco transferred to canvas and mounted on board, 311.8 cm x
189.2 cm, London, National Gallery
20. The Hunt of Diana, 1617, oil on canvas, Rome, Galleria Borghese
21. The Evangelist Saint John (with eagle), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle
22. Saint Luke (with ox), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle
23. Saint Mark (with lion), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle
24. Saint Matthew (with Angel), pendentive fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle
25. Flagellation of Saint Andrew, 1624-28, fresco, Rome, Sant’Andrea della Valle
26. Agostino Carracci, Last Communion of Saint Jerome, 1592
27. Peter Paul Rubens, The Last Communion of St Francis, 1619, oil on canvas, Antwerp,
Koninklijk Museum voor Schonen Kunsten
28. Christ receives San Gennaro into heaven, pendentive fresco, Naples, Cappella del Tesoro
29. San Gennaro assumes the protection of the city of Naples, pendentive fresco, Naples,
Cappella del Tesoro
30. Christ receives the prayers of San Gennaro and other saints on behalf of the people of Naples
31. At the intercession of the Virgin, Christ releases the sword with which he was about to punish
the city of Naples
Reference:
Christopher Allen, ed., Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy, De Arte Graphica, 1668. Geneva: Droz,
2005.
G.B. Bellori, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et. architteti moderni, scritte da Gio. Pietro Bellori.
Parte Prima. … Rome, Mascardi, 1672.
Elizabeth Cropper, The Domenichino Affair. Novelty, Imitation and theft in seventeenthcentury Rome. New Haven and London, 2005.
Sir Denis Mahon, Studies in Seicento art and theory. London, 1947
Peter Robb, Streetfight in Naples, Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 2010
Richard E. Spear, Domenichino, 2 vols, New Haven and London, 1982
For access to all past lecture notes visit:
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/meet-the-masters/