A GREAT MASTERPIECE OF THE FRENCH 18TH CENTURY ENTERS THE UFFIZI COLLECTION: “THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE DE’ RICCI” BY PIERRE SUBLEYRASThe important acquisition was made by the museum director Simone Verde at Tefaf, an international event in Maastricht: “A work of primary importance for that era of painting, which will be a protagonist in the Gallery”
A majestic masterpiece of 18th century French art is ready to enter the Uffizi collection as a protagonist: the large canvas The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine de’ Ricci dated 1746 and signed by the famous Occitan painter Pierre Subleyras. Historians confer remarkable importance to this painting due to its quality, the prestige of its patronage, and its history. It was purchased in February 2024 by the museum director Simone Verde at Tefaf, the international fair held in Maastricht. After arriving in Florence, it will now be restored and then exhibited in a prominent position in the Gallery section dedicated to 18th century painting.
The painting was made on the occasion of St. Catherine de’ Ricci’s canonisation. In 1763, it was part of the collection of Girolamo Colonna di Sciarra. Then, it passed to that of Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and later to that of Filippo III Colonna. Between 1812 and 1935, it entered the Barberini collection in the Roman palace of the same name. That same year, the painting was auctioned and bought by Marquis Sacchetti, from whom it was inherited by its current owners.
As was customary at the time, religious orders offered the Pope works celebrating figures on the verge of being canonised. However, the choice of subject and artist was entrusted to the Pontiff. In this case, Benedict XIV Lambertini chose Subleyras, a painter who was achieving great success in Rome. The Bolognese pope also commissioned him to paint his portrait, made in 1746, which is now located in The Metropolitan Museum of New York. Subleyras’ purism, along with the monumentality of the figures with marble-like white complexion that still reflects a rocaille taste, was already oriented towards the affirmation of Neoclassicism and was in line with modernity. In the Mystic Marriage, the sacred scene is depicted with solemnity and at the same time with great equilibrium. The style recalls the classicism of Poussin and his interpretation of the Roman models of the Baroque period. The connection with the masters of 17th century classicism is enhanced by the delicacy of the aerial colours typical of the 18th century. The movement around the scene of the mystic marriage is given by the swarming putti and cherubs’ heads through which the painter practices virtuosity on still life elements, such as the white lily branch or the flower arrangement held by the winged putto depicted in profile.
Subleyras distinguished himself as a painter of stories and portraits, but among his greatest masterpieces should be mentioned one of the most beautiful nudes in the history of art, the Female Nude, which is preserved in the Barberini Gallery in Rome (c. 1740). The French painter, who later died in Rome, trained with his father (also a painter) and went to Paris in 1726, where he won the prix de Rome scholarship in 1728 as a pensionnaire of the French Academy in Rome. In 1736, he married Maria Felice Tibaldi, a miniaturist who often reproduced her husband’s works on a smaller scale. In 1748, Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga introduced the artist to Pope Benedict XIV, for whom he painted his portrait as well as The Mass of St. Basil for the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (now preserved in the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels). In the same period, he painted The Miracle of St. Benedict (Rome, Santa Francesca Romana) and St. Ambrose and Theodosius (Perugia, National Gallery of Umbria) for the Olivetan Church in Perugia.
Simone Verde, Director of the Uffizi Galleries: “The Mystic Marriage is a work of primary importance for 18th century art. It will be a new and real protagonist in the museum’s 18th century rooms. In addition to presenting itself as a work of refined aesthetics and style, the painting uniquely expresses the taste of the circle of nobles and intellectuals that revolved around the Roman Curia in the mid-eighteenth century. This is a true masterpiece, whose quality is rare to find on the market, which will enrich the 18th century collections of the Uffizi. It fills a significant gap and represents an additional piece to complete the gallery of Italy’s painting history, a mission originally pursued by Luigi Lanzi. Completing this collection still remains an existential mission for the museum, given its central importance at both national and international level”.
Press release from the External Relations Office of the Uffizi Galleries.
