The Philosopher

This painting, in which a man passionately presents a scroll with scribbles, was given the title, The Cabalist. Perhaps it had a very specific theme, but without knowing the context it appears as capriccio or a fictitious portrait. The protagonist is dressed in everyday clothes which does not suggest that he could be an exponent of the occult or esoteric science. 

The scene itself is reduced to a man in a three quarter cut standing next to a table on which he rolls out a rotulus. A pen and inkpot are situated on the table. The pose of the man is contradictory; the motion of the body communicates conflict. He lifts the scroll high but he is looking down. Theletters and  the scroll suggest intellectual activity which would anticipate a meditative atmosphere, but obviously drama is taking place. 

Deep and radiant paints applied in energetic strokes with pastelike layers of light and the colored background emphasizing the silhouette and outer volume, similar to schematically repeated details point to the fact that Venetian artist Antonio Zanchi created this unsigned painting. 

The theme of The Cabalist is close to the large painting Abraham Teaches Astrology to the Egyptians in which the scholar is depicted much more traditionally. The bearded old man in a toga and turban is bending over a globe with a pointer in his hand; he is surrounded by students. The formal aspect the Bratislava painting is reminiscent of Zanchi’s painting of Mary Magdalene, which can be found in Museo del Prado in Madrid.

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