Original scientific paper
THE GIUSEPPE CAMERATA'S PAINTING FROM POREČ
Višnja Bralić
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod
Abstract
On the main altar in the church of St. Eleutherius in Poreč is a baroque painting representing St. Eleutherius, St. Nicholas and The Blessed Virgin with Child. The imposing figures of the saints are situated on Clouds: the space in the representation is reduced and unarticulated while the composition underlines the upward directed movement effectuated in zig-zag fashion. Below the figures of the saints is the representation of the town of Poreč and its port, seen in distance and against the background of a bright sky. The very specific handling of light and colour, as well as the significant similarities in rendering physiognomies and recurrent gestures of the saints, all reveal the hand of Giuseppe Camerata, Venetian painter, whose artistic personality was being formed at the end of the Seicento and the beginning of the Settecento. The similarities between the painting from Poreč and other paintings by Camerata in Venice are numerous. The pose and gestures of St. Eleutherius are repeated in the figure of David that flees from Saul's anger represented in a print made after a drawing by Camerata. The saint's phsiognomy is identical to the physiognomy of St. Girolamo Miani in the painting The Miracle of St. Girolamo Miani in the Venetian church S. Giacomo delI'Orio. The blessed Virgin shows distinct similarities, mostly in the paininting The Ascent to Calvary in the venetian church Spirito Santo. In the painting from Poreč, one can also easily detect Camerata's characteristic combinations of chiaroscuro effects with the brighter and colder shades of the background and the intense colours made more opulent by glimmering reflexes that create the illusion of lightness and airines. As far as the composition is concerned, the painintng of St. Eletherius is closest to the wall painting representing The Angel Showing the Model of the Church to the Patron Saints situated in the rectory of S. Simeone Piccolo in Venice. According to the significant and numerous similarities between Camerata's painting from Poreč and his works painted during the fourth and the fifth decade of the Settecento, we propose to date St. Elentherius, St. Nicholas and the Blessed Virgin with Child between 1735 and 1750.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
151192
URI
Publication date:
15.12.1995.
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