Lot 260: DOMENICO PIOLA

DOMENICO PIOLA GENOA 1627 - 1703 MADONNA AND CHILD ADORED BY SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI oil on canvas, unframed 114 1/2 by 67 in.; 290.8 by 170.2 cm.

R. Soprani and C.G. Ratti, Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti genovesi, 1768, vol. II, p. 37;
E. and F. Poleggi, eds., Descrizione della città di Genova da un anonimo del 1818, Genoa 1969, pp. 286-289;
B. Fredericksen, Catalogue of the Paintings in The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu 1972, p. 53, no. 58;
B. Fredericksen, The J. Paul Getty Museum: Greek and Roman Antiquities, Western European Paintings and French Decorative Arts of the Eighteenth Century, London 1975, p. 97, reproduced;
L. Cristin, ed., The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook, Malibu 1975, p. 63;
The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook, Malibu 1976, p. 67;
The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook, Malibu 1978, p. 82;
L. Magnani, "Cultura laica e scelte religiose: artisti, committenti e tematiche del sacro," in La Pittura in Liguria. Il secondo Seicento, Genoa 1990, p. 462 (note 269);
D. Jaffé, Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 1997, p. 96, reproduced;
D. Sanguineti, Domenico Piola e i pittori della sua casa, Soncino 2004, vol. II, pp. 394-395, no. I.54, reproduced tav. XXX.

Commissioned from the artist for the Church of San Domenico, Genoa, later abandoned in 1798;
R.D. Score, Beverly Hills, California, by 1968;
His sale, ('The Property of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Score, Los Angeles'), New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 22 October 1970, lot 70;
Where acquired by The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu.

Although Federico Zeri was the first modern scholar to identify this large-scale, impressive painting as the work of Domenico Piola, it is actually fully documented in the early sources. For example, in their Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti genovesi of 1768, Soprani and Ratti identify this work as one of two altapieces by Piola that hung in the Church of San Domenico in Genoa: "The church... possesses two paintings by Piola, namely that of Saint Thomas Aquinas in front of the crucifix, and that of Saint Francis of Assisi in front of the Virgin; both richly adorned with angels and putti in very fanciful movement."(1 )In addition, an anonymous account of the city from the early nineteenth century identifies the present composition as the work that hung over the third altar of the right nave of the church.(2) Although San Domenico was Genoa's largest church and possessed many impressive works of art, it had gradually fallen into disrepair, was closed by 1798 and completely demolished in the nineteenth century. It is fortunate that Piola's altarpiece survived, as other works of art, including a set of frescoes by Strozzi, were destroyed.

The dramatic, diagonal movement of the composition and tender connection between the Christ Child and Saint Francis are characteristic of Piola's work from this period. The representation of the beardless Dominican friar holding the chalice and crucifix has been identified as Saint Thomas Aquinas; and it could be that the book that is held prominently and studied by the two putti in the foreground is a reference to his theological writings, as the other altarpiece that Piola completed for the Church of Saint Dominic, Saint Thomas Aquinas Adoring the Crucifix (now in the Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, Genoa), employs a similar motif.


1. R. Soprani and C.G. Ratti, op. cit.: "La Chiesa di S. Domenico possiede due tavole dipinte dal Piola; e sono, quella di S. Tommaso d'Acquino davanti al Crocifisso, e quella di S. Francesco d'Assisi davanti alla Vergine; ambe ricche d'Angioletti, e di putti in legiadrissime movenze."
2. E. & F. Poleggi, op. cit.: "La disposizione degli altari era la seguente, con le tavole che li decoravano: al primo a destra S. Giacinto avanti la Vergine del Sarzana, al secondo la Deposizione della croce del Semino, al terzo S. Francesco d'Assisi avanti la Vergine di Domenico Piola..."