Detail View: The AMICA Library: The Immaculate Conception with Saint Francis and Anthony of Padua

AMICA ID: 
MIA_.66.39
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Paintings
Creator Name: 
Il Grechetto (Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione)
Creator Nationality: 
European; Southern European; Italian; Genoan
Creator Role: 
painter
Creator Dates/Places: 
1609 - 1664
Gender: 
M
Creator Name-CRT: 
Il Grechetto (Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione)
Title: 
The Immaculate Conception with Saint Francis and Anthony of Padua
View: 
Front
Creation Date: 
about 1650
Creation Start Date: 
1640
Creation End Date: 
1660
Materials and Techniques: 
oil on canvas
Classification Term: 
Oil On Canvas
Dimensions: 
H.144-5/8 x W.87 in
Component Measured: 
overall
Measurement Unit: 
in
AMICA Contributor: 
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 
66.39
Credit Line: 
The Putnam Dana McMillan Fund
Rights: 
Context: 

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione is known for paintings that combine the high drama and emotion of baroque art with elements of Venetian colorism and Flemish naturalism. These influences blend most successfully in The Immaculate Conception with Saints Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua, a work created when he was at the peak of his artistic powers.

The painting was commissioned in 1649 by Cardinal Girolamo Verospi for a new church at the Capuchin monastery in Osimo, a small town in central Italy near the Adriatic coast. It was to be placed over the high altar. Because the church was being dedicated to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the composition of the altarpiece needed to reflect the doctrine that Mary was conceived without sin. Castiglione depicted her as the Queen of Heaven, standing on a crescent moon and attended by a heavenly host and two kneeling saints, Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua. The coat of arms at the lower left attests that all expenses for the commission were borne by the church's archdeacon and patron, Pier Filippo Fiorenzi.

This painting underwent an extensive and complex restoration during the fall of 1999. The seven-week-long process was fully documented through text, video, and photography and can be viewed in the interactive computer program located through the doorway to the left of the painting.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MIA_.216c.tif