Kristus a stotník v Kafarnaume

A Roman Centurion in Kafarnaum (Capernaum) asked Christ to heal his suffering servant or son. When Christ was close to his house, the centurion sent friends to him to tell him that he was not worthy of meeting him. Christ, amazed by the centurion’s faith, sent him home with his company and at the same hour his servant or son was healed from afar.

Figures occupy almost the entire area of the painting. Only the important parts of their faces and hands arranged in three subsequent horizontal planes are illuminated. The articulation of shapes is also distinguished according to importance.

The simplified and only slightly formed types of faces which are uniformly modeled, the incarnates, which are only slightly articulated in terms of the light and the undistinguished rough texture of the clothing are features of the work of Angelo Caroselli. The incoherent relationship among the participants and the lack of adherence to proportions are other features.

The movement of the figure in armor is an allusion to the woman standing over Saint Sebastian in Caroselli’s painting in Milan (Koelliker). The figure behind him is also created in the mirror image of the half figure, currently ascribed to Pietro Paolini (1603–1681) from Caroselli’s studio. Another master’s contribution would not go against Caroselli’s practices, just as in the case of the altar painting of the Mass of St. Gregory in the Roman Basilica (Santa Francesca). The face of the old man behind Christ which does not fit in leads to this assumption.

Zuzana Ludiková ● LUDIKOVÁ, Zuzana - BURAN, Dušan. Talianska maľba = Italian Painting. Bratislava : Slovenská národná galéria, 2013. 242 strán. ISBN 9788080591748.