Title

Saint Paul

Fanzago, Cosimo (Clusone, 1591 - Nápoles, 1678)

Generic classification

Object

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Cultural context / style

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Material

Technique

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Object history

This sculpture of St. Paul, currently in a private collection in New York, as well as another one that represents St. Peter and belongs to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, have been attributed to the Neapolitan master Cosimo Fanzago (D'Agostino, 2003; Allen, 2022). It comes, like its companion piece, from the church of the convent of Agustinas de Salamanca. Fanzago executed the work at the request of Manuel de Fonseca y Zúñiga (1588-1653), VI Count of Monterrey, who resided for a long time in Italy, first as ambassador to the Holy See (1628-1631) and later as viceroy of Naples (1631-1637). He was patron and patron of the aforementioned convent, whose temple he decorated and endowed with various works of art from Italy. This sculpture flanked a gilded bronze tabernacle, enriched with noble stones, such as lapis lazuli and jasper, among others. A sumptuous work that can still be seen in the Salamanca church, although devoid of the bronze sculptures that formed part of the ensemble: this image of St. Paul, now in a private collection in New York, and another that represented St. Peter, now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The convent and church of the Augustinian nuns of Salamanca was considered by Madruga Real as an excellent artistic bridge between Naples and Salamanca (Madruga Real, 1982). The most sumptuous part of the temple was the altar, where the viceroy wished to place his tomb and that of the countess. The polychrome marble decoration allows us to recognize the mark of Cosimo Fanzago (Clusone, 1591-Napoli, 1678), to whom the viceroy commissioned the main altarpiece; at that time the aforementioned master was the main architect of Naples. The design he made, in principle, was to be for the church of the Ursulines of Salamanca, where the count first planned to erect the funeral chapel of his family; but that was before he decided to build a new convent for the Augustinian nuns, for whose church the project commissioned to Fanzago was destined. The contract was signed on November 28, 1633. Let us keep in mind that Monterrey was one of the most powerful nobles at that time, he was related to the Count-Duke of Olivares, his brother-in-law, who was a favourite of the monarch Philip IV. Fanzago was to design four funerary monuments in the temple and to provide the main altar of the temple with prestige (Dombrowski, 1995-1996).

As for this sculpture, it was part of the sumptuous ensemble surrounding the monstrance at the foot of the main altarpiece, where it was described by Fray Alonso de Villerino, chronicler of the Augustinian order in 1691: "... la moldura de la primera grada del Altar Mayor, es de mármol blanco, y ella de jaspe verde, la segunda es de lo mismo, y en la delantera tiene a trechos unos lazos de bronce dorado, y sobre esta están siempre dos ángeles de bronce dorado, y dos hechuras de San Pedro y, y San Pablo que acompañan la Custodia, la qual tiene su asiento en el Altar Mayor, y a raíz del esta la puerta del primer Sagrario, que es de bronce dorado, y gravado el Dulce Nombre de Jesús: tiene mucho adorno de piedras, y toda es de jaspes de diversos colores..." (Alonso de Villerino, 1691).

We know that at the beginning of the 20th century the ensemble was maintained in this way, and the work was still in its original location, since Gómez-Moreno, during the elaboration of the Monumental Catalog of the province of Salamanca, saw and photographed the bronze sculptures that accompanied the tabernacle: “el tabernáculo constituye una alhaja de precio, como que está enchapado de lapislázuli, malaquita y jaspes, entre molduras y decoración de bronce dorado. (…) Cuatro estatuitas de bronce dorado, de 0,29 m. de alto y unos angelillos de la misma materia decoran el tabernáculo del altar. Aquéllas representan a S. Pedro y S. Pablo, dos veces repetida cada una; son también romanas y hechas magistralmente según el estilo de Bernini. Don ángeles arrodillados de mayor tamaño, pero de la misma materia y estilo, están puestos a los lados del tabernáculo” (Gómez-Moreno, Manuel, Catálogo monumental de la provincia de Salamanca, 1901-1903, Vol. 1. Text, Part 2. pp. 464-465). The CSIC archive in Madrid preserves the image taken by Gómez-Moreno of these pieces (AR832686801), among which we can recognize this image of St. Paul that is currently part of a private collection in New York. As we can see, the historian from Granada was right in recognizing their Italian roots and, of course, their extraordinary quality; today these bronze sculptures are recognized as Neapolitan pieces by Cosimo Fanzago.

Description

The monumental air and dynamism of the piece are relevant qualities, despite its small dimensions. The apostle advances wrapped in his heavy tunic that shows a spirited movement and volume. St. Paul walks with his face turned to the front, concentrating his gaze on a distant point on the horizon, or perhaps he is so absorbed in his thoughts that it seems that the next step will lead him to fall from the pedestal on which he is standing; such is the dynamism of the figure that he accompanies his step with a slight turning movement to his left, without taking his gaze away from the front. His head appears defined with great naturalism, as can be seen in his wrinkles, in the marks left on his face by the concentrated expression, as well as in the exquisitely defined long and bushy beard, which moves spiritedly, and the hair, whose locks form waves that, nevertheless, allow us to discover his clear temple. The anatomical study of the hands, the face, and the skill in showing the realism of his walk, and the counterweights that this generates in the body, demonstrate, in short, the great mastery of its author.

Locations

• post. 1903

  church

  Church of the Convent of the Augustinian Nuns, Salamanca, Salamanca (Spain)

• 1952

  dealer/antiquarian

  Blumka Gallery, New York (United States) *

• present

  private collection

  Private collection, New York, New York (United States) *