(Florence 1576–1645)
The Mater Dolorosa with a weeping putto,
oil on canvas, 72.5 x 67.5 cm, framed

We are grateful Martina Ingendaay for having identified the painting as a work by Filippo Tarchiani after inspection of the original (written certificate). We are also grateful to Sandro Bellesi, who also independently suggested an attribution to Tarchiani.

Tarchiani is an interesting and individual exponent of Florentine early seventeenth century painting, demonstrating the many artistic trends current at the Medici Court.
Ingendaay traced many diverse artistic influences in the composition and execution of the present painting, which are characteristic of his development as an artist. The composition is an example of the taste for later sixteenth century neo-purism which displays an awareness of works by Empoli, Santi di Tito and Cigoli. Apart from these deeply Florentine characteristics the present work is also indebted to Carravagism, which was very influential at the time. It clearly shows the impact that the naturalistic and luminous art of Carravaggio had on artists from Florence who spent time in Rome, where Annibale Carracci´s Bolognese classicism was also prevelant.

Tarchiani was a pupil of Gregorio Pagani who spend seven years from 1601–1607 in Rome, and upon his return began to work in a more naturalistic idiom, undoubtedly also influenced by the Neapolitan painters of the Gentileschi Family as well as by Battistello Carracciolo, who also worked at the grand ducal court.
He was able to emulate the new naturalistic tendencies of Carravaggism and yet remained firmly grounded in the Florentine School of the disegno. Ingendaay dates the present to circa 1625-30. This exeptional composition combines the classical type of the Mater Dolorosa with a putto, who is intensely moved by the death of Christ.
Paintings such as the present work should be seen in the context of the counter reformation, at which time the art of painting was viewed as a ‘strumento di persuasione popolare’.

Additional pictures:
1) Filippo Tarchiani, Das Emmausmahl, Los Angeles, County Museum
2) Fig. 2: Filippo Tarchiani, Pietà, Pistoia, Museo Capitolare