Lot 149: Rutilio Manetti (Siena 1571-1639)

Rutilio Manetti (Siena 1571-1639)
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew
oil on canvas
91 x 61 3/8 in. (231.1 x 156 cm.)

The Sienese artist Rutilio Manetti was trained by the late Mannerist painters Francesco Vanni and Ventura Salimbeni. In the early decades of his career Manetti produced frescoes in churches and other public buildings in his native city, many of which show the influence of Federico Barocci, whom he also admired. Manetti became aware of the important developments in Bologna and Rome in the earliest years of the 17th century and by 1620 began to incorporate these new ideas into his own work. Dramatic chiaroscuro and daring compositional devices were derived from the work of Caravaggio and his close Roman followers, Orazio Gentileschi, Cecco del Caravaggio and Bartolomeo Manfredi, and would remain characteristics of Manetti's work for the remainder of his career.

This Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew shows Manetti after this artistic transformation. The composition reflects his knowledge of Caravaggio's masterpieces, The Martyrdom of Saint Peter (Rome, Santa Maria del Popolo) and The Conversion of Saint Paul (Rome, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo). He may also have known the ancient sculpture, The Flaying of Marsyas (Florence, Uffizi) whose outstretched torso, arms and legs are repeated in the present composition to heighten the emotional drama at this excruciating moment in the life of this saint, thus enforcing its Counter Reformation message.

The present painting is a new addition to Manetti's work and is dated by Maurizio Marini to circa 1625-1630 (in correspondence with a previous owner, 18 February 2008), based on stylistic affinities with The Deposition with Saint Francis (Siena, Chigi Saracini collection) and The Ecstasy of San Jerome (signed and dated 1628; Siena, Monti dei Paschi).