Cigoli's Resurrection
Long considered lost and only recently rediscovered in damaged condition, Cigoli’s restored Resurrection is important for understanding his early style and career (Chappell, 1974). Although he worked under Alessandro Allori on decorations for Medici court events, such as the funeral of Cosimo I in 1574 and the marriage of Ferdinando I to Christina of Lorraine in 1589, Cigoli was an independent artist when he painted this work, a commission that was to shape his career. According to his biographer and nephew, G. B. Cardi, Cigoli was approached by Don Giovanni de’Medici when Grand Duke Ferdinando became dissatisfied with proposals for an altar painting for the Cappella dei Forestieri or Visitors’ Chapel, under construction in 1590-1591 in the area adjacent to the Sala di Bona in the Palazzo Pitti. From the documented history traced by Bellosi (1998) and Padovani (2006) of the now destroyed Quartiere dei Cardinali e Principi Forestieri , two scarcely known decorators, Francesco Mati and Luca Ranfi, were charged with ornamenting the chapel in fresco and the altarpiece was commissioned to Andrea Boscoli. His painting was judged unsatisfactory, but was paid for and returned to him. Cigoli’s commission could relate to the fact that he was working at just this time in the Palazzo Pitti on the decoration of Christina of Lorraine’s apartment with a ceiling painting of Flora (now lost). But his selection was more likely owing to the fame of his Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (Figline, La Collegiata di Santa Maria) a night scene that apparently caused a sensation for the dramatic light effects and carefully considered spatial setting.
Cardi’s account that the Resurrection was a particular challenge because of its narrow proportions and that Cigoli made many preparatory studies is corroborated by a drawing dated 1590 showing the composition and marginal sketches (New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery; Pillsbury and Caldwell, 1974, no. 42) and other studies in the Uffizi, the Louvre, and private collections (Chappell, 1992, pp. 17-19, no. 10). Additional studies for the angel and Mary are found on a recently sold drawing attributed to Cigoli’s disciple, Sigismondo Coccopani (London, Christie’s South Kensington,16 April 1999, no. 20.) Cigoli took inspiration from a model he himself had earlier copied, Santo di Tito’s greatly admired Resurrection, circa 1574 in Santa Croce, Florence (see cat. No. 8). Compressing Santi’s composition into an even more vertical format and simplifying the scene, Cigoli created a balanced arrangement of carefully studied complementary figures with accentuated movements, a disposition he further simplified in the more concentrated Resurrection of 1591 for the Convent of Montevarchi in Arezzo (now Arezzo, Pinacoteca Comunale). The painting for the Cappella Forestieri reflects Cigoli’s dedication to more realistic light and color, an interest that led him from the Mannerist colorism of Alessandro Allori to study of Barocci and then Correggio. We see Cigoli balancing the sharp, defining light of Santi di Tito with his own more atmospheric treatment, but we can observe him delighting in color combinations of intense hues and chromatic juxtapositions still recalling Alessandro Allori. He soon makes the transition to the suave color harmonies of works like the Resurrrection of 1591, The Siege of Jerusalem (cat. No. 19) and the Martyrdom of St. Stephen of 1597 (Florence, Palazzo Pitti; see the preparatory drawing exhibited here cat. No. 169.
Cigoli’s Resurrection must have pleased because it marks the beginning of his long association with the Medici. His principal patron was Ferdinando I, who was to obtain for him the prestigious commission for an altarpiece in St. Peter’s in Rome, and who, in his turn, was to be commemorated by a funereal for which Cigoli supervised the decoration. M.L.C.
Cristina Acidini, et al, The Medici, Michelangelo, and the Art of Late Renaissance Florence, Florence, 2002, pp. 156-157.
Cardi’s account that the Resurrection was a particular challenge because of its narrow proportions and that Cigoli made many preparatory studies is corroborated by a drawing dated 1590 showing the composition and marginal sketches (New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery; Pillsbury and Caldwell, 1974, no. 42) and other studies in the Uffizi, the Louvre, and private collections (Chappell, 1992, pp. 17-19, no. 10). Additional studies for the angel and Mary are found on a recently sold drawing attributed to Cigoli’s disciple, Sigismondo Coccopani (London, Christie’s South Kensington,16 April 1999, no. 20.) Cigoli took inspiration from a model he himself had earlier copied, Santo di Tito’s greatly admired Resurrection, circa 1574 in Santa Croce, Florence (see cat. No. 8). Compressing Santi’s composition into an even more vertical format and simplifying the scene, Cigoli created a balanced arrangement of carefully studied complementary figures with accentuated movements, a disposition he further simplified in the more concentrated Resurrection of 1591 for the Convent of Montevarchi in Arezzo (now Arezzo, Pinacoteca Comunale). The painting for the Cappella Forestieri reflects Cigoli’s dedication to more realistic light and color, an interest that led him from the Mannerist colorism of Alessandro Allori to study of Barocci and then Correggio. We see Cigoli balancing the sharp, defining light of Santi di Tito with his own more atmospheric treatment, but we can observe him delighting in color combinations of intense hues and chromatic juxtapositions still recalling Alessandro Allori. He soon makes the transition to the suave color harmonies of works like the Resurrrection of 1591, The Siege of Jerusalem (cat. No. 19) and the Martyrdom of St. Stephen of 1597 (Florence, Palazzo Pitti; see the preparatory drawing exhibited here cat. No. 169.
Cigoli’s Resurrection must have pleased because it marks the beginning of his long association with the Medici. His principal patron was Ferdinando I, who was to obtain for him the prestigious commission for an altarpiece in St. Peter’s in Rome, and who, in his turn, was to be commemorated by a funereal for which Cigoli supervised the decoration. M.L.C.
Cristina Acidini, et al, The Medici, Michelangelo, and the Art of Late Renaissance Florence, Florence, 2002, pp. 156-157.