Name of Object:

The Saints Mark, St. Anthony Abbot and St. Sebastian

Location:

Pieve di Budrio, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Holding Museum:

Church of St. Gervasius and Protasius

Date of Object:

1773

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Ubaldo Gandolfi (14th October 1728, San Matteo della Decima (Bo)-24th July 1781, Ravenna)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

221 x 145 cm

Workshop / Movement:

Bolognese Late baroque

Provenance:

Vigorso di Budrio, Bologna

Type of object:

Painting

Period of activity:

Second half eighteenth-century

Place of production:

Bologna

Description:

The painting was commissioned to Ubaldo for the church of St. Mark in Vigorso di Budrio (Bo). Saint Mark, clad in bright red is shown looking for inspiration for the Gospel, next to him is a lion, the emblem of the saint. In the foreground St. Sebastian is tied to a column, his body pierced by an arrow while an angel is handing him the palm of martyrdom. Nearby is St. Anthony Abbot with his classic attributes; the fire, the bell and the pig. The composition is very simple and clear. The light comes from one direction and symbolises the light of God to which the evangelist points. The painter is inspired by the great Bolognese school, in particular Guercino and Ludovico Carracci, and to the Venetian school.

The painting shows St. Mark writing the gospel, St. Sebastian tied to the column and St. Anthony the Abbot.

Original Owner:

Parish church

How date and origin were established:

The step in the lower middle is inscribed “U.G.F. 1773” (Ubaldus Gandulfius fecit 1773).

How Object was obtained:

The painting has been moved from the original church to the present one for safety reasons.

Selected bibliography:

Gandolfi, G. in Gaetano e Ubaldo Gandolfi. Opere scelte (exhibition catalogue) (ed. D. Biagi Maino), Turin, 2002, p. 89.
Biagi Maino, D.Ubaldo Gandolfi, Turin, 1990, p. 261.
Volpe, C. “I Gandolfi”, L'arte del Settecento emiliano. La pittura, l'Accademia Clementina (exhibition catalogue) (eds. A.Emiliani), Bologna, 1979, p. 100.
Roli, R. Pittura bolognese 1650-1800. Dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna, 1977, p. 265.
Servetti Donati, F. Budrio casa nostra, Budrio (Bo), 1977, p. 250.

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright image: Ufficio Beni culturali ecclesiastici della diocesi di Bologna.

Citation of this web page:

Giulia  Gandolfi "The Saints Mark, St. Anthony Abbot and St. Sebastian" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2022. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;it;Mus12_D;35;en

Prepared by: Giulia GandolfiGiulia Gandolfi

SURNAME: Gandolfi
NAME: Giulia

AFFILIATION Università degli Studi di Bologna, Università di Pisa

TITLE Art historian

CV

Graduated in History of Art (Università degli studi di Bologna), at present research officer at the campus of Ravenna and studing for a PhD in Pisa University about the relation between art and science in modern age. She collaborates with the Historical Archive of Bologna University, cataloguing the art collection and the portrait gallery of the University. She is a specialist in Bolognese painting of seventeenth and eigthteenth-century.
Translation by: Antonella MampieriAntonella Mampieri

SURNAME: Mampieri
NAME: Antonella

AFFILIATION: Musei Civici d’Arte Antica, Bologna

TITLE: Art Hitorian

CV:
Graduated and specialised at the University of Bologna. She is a specialist in Bolognese late Baroque art, namely sculpture. Among other subjects she has been studying nineteenth-century funerary art in the Bologna monumental cemetery, la Certosa.
Translation copyedited by: Lisa Kelman

MWNF Working Number: IT2 38