Charles Borromeo visiting the sick Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C. - image-1
Charles Borromeo visiting the sick Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C. - image-2
Charles Borromeo visiting the sick Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C. - image-1Charles Borromeo visiting the sick Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C. - image-2

Lot 68 Dα

Charles Borromeo visiting the sick Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C.

Auction 1237 - overview Cologne
16.11.2023, 10:00 - Stained Glass from four Centuries
Estimate: 1.000 € - 3.000 €
Result: 1.386 € (incl. premium)
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Charles Borromeo visiting the sick
Switzerland or Northern Italy, last third 18th C.

Glass panel painted on reverse in opaque and transparent pigments against black ground. Painted, gilded and stamped softwood frame, H 53, W 45.7 cm.

This piece was presumably based on an engraving by François de Poilly the Elder (1632 - 1693) after Pierre Mignard (1612 - 1695), reproducing it in reverse.
Charles Borromeo (1538 - 1584) was born into an Italian noble family. He became a priest and very soon advanced his career in the diocese of Milan, being appointed bishop there in 1563. He was one of the leading figures of the Counter Reformation, concentrating his efforts on Switzerland, where he founded the Collegium Helveticum in 1579. He radically opposed Protestants, but he also took great pains in ministering to plague victims. It was due to his diligence in caring for the sick that Pope Paul V declared him a saint in 1610. Like in this reverse glass painting, he is usually depicted ministering to patients as a Pastor bonus.

Literature

Illus. in Steiner, ... eine andere Art von Malerey. Hinterglasgemälde und ihre Vorlagen 1550 - 1850, Berlin-Munich 2012, illus. 148.

Exhibitions

2012 Schaezlerpalais der Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg.