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A WORK BY GIOVANNI SERODINE FROM THE STROSSMAYER GALLERY
Vinko Zlamalik
Abstract
During restoration work on the picture » Tuition in Drawing« from the Strossmayer Gallery of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, there was discovered in 1957 a signature in the form of monogram with the interwoven letters IS. The author is of the opinion that formal , stylistic and typological reasons link this object of art wit h Rome at the beginning of the 17t h century, ancl that the Jan Steen attribution is not acceptable, under which name t he work hacl been int roclucecl into the i n ver tor y o f t h e Ga l ler y af ter t he cliscovery of t h e initials. I n analysing thi s picture, the author establish a t y pological similarity of the olcl man's f igure wit h the same f igure on th e ma s ter' s e s tablished autographs ent i t lecl »Call of Zebeclee's Sons« f rom Ascona, » Elemosina of St . Lovro« f r om Sermoneta and other wo r ks. He f i nds a n analogy also i n t h e characteristic creation of t h e l i ght ef fects by means of light ochre on a d ar k b r own backgrouncl. By means of sharp contrastsb between light and shaclows are stressecl the plastic values of the nearest volumes, whilst one specific chiaroscuro results in a static character of the forms. The impasto on Serodine's pictures as well as on the Zagreb wor k shows the characteristic cluality of smooth and pasty surfaces. In the f igure of the old man one encounters the technique of elongated patches of a paint that clecomposes the painted surfaces into relief particles, while the volume of the f ingers is formecl by r ing-like parallel coatings of a l ight ochre on a dark brown base. On the other hancl, when painting the youthful f igure, the master placed the paint on the canvas in a t h in, almost t ransparent coating, thussuggesting in an excellent manner the h esh tension of the skin ancl the purity of the complexion. The copper-brown colour of the olcl man's complexion is in contrast with the greyish-yellow tonality of the ep!clermis wi t h the greenish-grey shadows on the f ace of the boy. To the author especially characteristic i s the s;ill-life in the picture »Tui t ion in Drawing«, which complements
ancl closes up the composition in an excellent way. Besicles the scu!pture of the nakecl boy what catches our eye i s something !hat i s of tent imes founcl in Serocline's pictures: the l i vely ancl lovcI surface of t h e w h i t e p a r chment, e ither i n t h e f o r m o f rotulus, a f ree leaf or o pen pages of a book. T hese p lanes, together with the cletai's of the crumplecl clrapery of the sleeves, k erchief or the l ike clraw most of the l ight f rom t he master's brush ancl represent the loudest note of the counterpoint l ight-shacle. The typical pasty facture of t hese phosphorescent surfaces is part of Serodine's painting expression,which includes also the Zagreb work of ar t int o the aetist's numerically humble opus.
The author believes that the established analogies clictate the clating of t h e p i c t ure »Tuition i n Dr awi ng« i n t o t h e p e r ioct 1 619 — 1625, i. e, int o the per iod of t h e making of t h e a l tar compositions for the Church San Lorenzo fuori le mura at Rome. The lack of accord between the discovered signature IS and the actual initials of the Italian name Giovanni Serodine — GS — is explained by the Latin inscription of the master's name, who on the pi cture » Elemosina of St . L o v r o « si g ned h imsel f t h u s : IOANNES SERODENUS F.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
157930
URI
Publication date:
15.12.1964.
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