(Sant‘Arcangelo di Romagna 1601 - Vienna 1663) The Drunken Noah, oil on canvas laid down on board, 64 x 81 cm, framed

Provenance: European private collection;

Literature: P. G. Pasini, Guido Cagnacci. Catalogo generale, Rimini 1986, no. 77, p. 294, ill; „Qualche riflessione sul primo tempo di Guido Cagnacci“ in: Antichtà viva 1998, nos. 3-4, pp. 19-25, 24-25, notes 5 and 20 (as a work by Spadarino); G. Papi, „La vocazione caravaggesca di Giovan Antonio Galli detto lo Spadarino“ in: Arte cristiana 77, 1989, pp. 369-84, no. 31 (as a work by Spadarino); G. Papi, Spadarino, 2003, no. 32 p. 151, pl. XLIV (as a work by Spadarino).

The present painting shows a reclining male figure in a relaxed position, placed in an undefined environment, possibly a grotto. Both the subject matter and the manner of painting create an overall outstandingly modern impression. There was probably only one painter in the mid-seventeenth century who understood how to combine extreme naturalism and ideal beauty in such a convincing manner: Guido Cagnacci, to whom Pier Giorgio Pasini attributed this work(P.G. Pasini, Guido Cagnacci. Catalogo generale, Rimini 1986, no. 77, p. 294). The present work is visually striking with the figure‘s pose, the bold foreshortening, and the precise rendering of the anatomy together with flesh tones that seem almost transparent. The body is modelled by means of the light, with individual parts accentuated by the delicate transitions from light to dark. The painting was published again by Gianni Papi, with an attribution to Giovanni Antonio Galli, called Spadarino (G. Papi, Spadarino, 2003, no. 32, p. 151, pl. XLIV). Papi‘s proposition, however, has not met with approval among scholars.
Professor Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums in Rome, who examined the painting in the original, has confirmed the authenticity of the present painting (written communication, 2009). Professor Paolucci also supports Pasini´s opinion in identifying the subject matter as the Drunken Noah. Paolucci also points out that the nude figure‘s unusual pose is characteristic of the artist, whose works anticipates nineteenth-century academic painting. Professor Paolucci underlines the exceptional standing of Guido Cagnacci, whose work had an important impact on the French artists Proudhon and Bouguereau, and nineteenth-century Salon painting as a whole. We are extremely grateful to Professor Antonio Paolucci for examining the present painiting and for fully confirming the attribution to Guido Cagnacci.

Provenance: European private collection; Literature: P. G. Pasini, Guido Cagnacci. Catalogo generale, Rimini 1986, no. 77, p. 294, ill; „Qualche riflessione sul primo tempo di Guido Cagnacci“ in: Antichtà viva 1998, nos. 3-4, pp. 19-25, 24-25, notes