Lot 78 | Giovanni Andrea Sirani | Saint Paul with the Priest Ananias

SIRANI, GIOVANNI ANDREA
Bologna 1610 - 1670

Title: Saint Paul with the Priest Ananias.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 132 x 179cm.
Frame: Framed.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany;
Private ownership, Italy.

Literature:
M. Pulini, Gianandrea Sirani, una storia da riscrivere. Il "recitar dipinto" di un maestro da rivalutare, in, https://www.aboutartonline.com, ill. no. 14 (https://www.aboutartonline.com/pulini/).

Giovanni Andrea Sirani, like Giovan Francesco Gessi, was a pupil of Guido Reni and the father of the famous painter Elisabetta Sirani. Giovanni Andrea began his artistic training with a short apprenticeship in the workshop of Giacomo Cavedone before joining Guido Reni's workshop and becoming his favourite pupil. Later he came into contact with other Bolognese painters, including Alessandro Tiarini, Francesco Albani and Guercino. This enabled him to develop a more personal artistic language, closely following his master, until he arrived at an independent style influenced by the various artistic impulses in Bologna.
A creator of large altarpieces, Sirani was able to alternate production for the churches of Bologna and the surrounding area with numerous paintings for private collectors and patrons, often in landscape format. Among his bravura pieces are depictions of episodes from ancient and modern literature, Roman history and the Gospels.
The present painting shows St Paul on the left, waiting to be martyred by the sword that stands on the pedestal to his right. Next to him stands the priest Ananias to comfort him. Ananias is said to have been a disciple of Jesus and bishop of Damascus who witnessed the conversion of Paul of Tarsus. He too was martyred for his work of evangelisation. The painting shows Sirani's fully mature style, no longer anchored in the manner of his master Guido Reni, but aware of Guercino's production, rich in nuance and soft, with opaque colours alternating with intense ones.
The provenance of this painting is not known; due to its size, it was probably in a 17th century Bolognese painting collection. Perhaps the work was commissioned by a person named "Paolo" because of the depiction of Saint Paul, the patron saint of the family or the namesake of the commissioner.

We are grateful to Daniele Benati, Bologna, who confirmed the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph. We are also grateful to Adelina Modesti, Melbourne, who has also independently acknowledged the attribution.