(Cremona 1671–1749 Bologna)
Christ in the house of Martha and Mary,
oil on canvas, 120 x 80 cm, framed

Provenance:
Conti family, Bologna (1765);
with Salamon Gallery, Milan (1985);
Private collection, Milan

Documentation:
M. Oretti, Descrizione delle Pitture che sono state esposte nelle strade di Bologna in occasione degli apparati generali del SS. Sacramento, 1759–1786, Bologna, Biblioteca Comunale, ms., B. 105, cc. 39, 54, 237 (see literature, Manni/Negro/Pirondini, 1989, p. 180)

Literature:
R. Roli, Una insolita “Veronica” di Donato Creti e altre aggiunte, in: P. Leone de Castris (ed.), Scritti di storia dell’arte in onore di Raffaello Causa, Naples 1988, pp. 329–330;
G. Manni/E. Negro/M. Pirondini (eds.), Arte Emiliana dalle raccolte storiche al nuovo collezionismo, Modena 1989, p. 180, no. 148;
D. Benati (ed.), Dipinti e disegni emiliani dal manierismo al neoclassico, exhibition catalogue, Bologna 1997, p. 60–62, no. 13;
Porro & C, Mostra dipinti antichi, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2015, no. 10

The present painting represents an episode from the Gospel according to Saint Luke (10: 31-41) in which Christ visits the sisters of Lazarus. Martha attends to her domestic duties and is emblematically shown holding a pewter dish, while Mary, seated at Christ’s feet, contemplates His word. In accordance with this story’s representational tradition, which originated in the middle ages, the two women respectively symbolise earthly and spiritual life.

The present painting was once paired with another work which was published, along with the present painting, in 1988 by Roli (see literature) which represents Christ sending his effigy to king Abgar. With respect to the composition and the fall of light, the latter work is an almost exact mirror image of the present Christ in the house of Martha and Mary.

These paintings are cited no less than three times in eighteenth century manuscript records by the scholar Marcello Oretti, which are conserved in the Biblioteca Comunale, Bologna (see documentation). This document describes the display of paintings in Bologna as part of the festive decoration for the feast-days of the Blessed Sacrament. The temporary decorations, or addobbi, were hung on the facades of the city’s churches, and in the squares and porticoes, as well as to palace facades as part of the celebration of liturgical feast-days that reoccurred once every ten years. Indeed, in 1765 on the occasion of the decennale eucaristica, or tenth anniversary of the Eucharist, of the church of the Magdalene, Oretti explained that the Conti family displayed ‘i due quadri con Re Abgaro con la immagine del sudario e Christo con la Maddalena è di mano di Donato Creti’ [‘the two paintings with King Abgar with the effigy of Christ and Christ with the Magdalene by the hand of Donato Creti’] (see documentation). The following year, and again in 1776, the paintings were again exhibited for the decennale of the parish church of San Matteo delle Pescherie. For the event that took place in 1776 Oretti described the present painting in greater detail: ‘Christo in casa di Marta e di Maddalena che là discorrono, quadro simile pure del Creti’ [‘Christ in the house of Martha and [Mary] Magdalene where they discourse, a similar painting, also by Creti’] (see documentation).

In the Royal Library in Windsor there is a sheet of figure studies by Creti (see: R. Roli, Donato Creti. 46 disegni inediti, Bologna 1973, no. 24) in which there appears to be a preparatory study for the head of Christ, and one of the cherubs in the present painting. On another sheet, there is a study for the head of an old man, which appears to be related to one of the figures of ambassadors seen in the pendant, representing king Abgar.

Renato Roli suggested that the present painting should be dated to Donato Creti’s maturity, during the 1740s, a time when he executed important altarpieces for the major churches of Bologna, the city where he conducted his entire career. Notable among these altarpieces are the Saint Charles Borromeo giving alms for the cathedral of San Pietro and the Madonna and Child in glory with Saints and Coronation of the Virgin with Saints for the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca.

The subject of Christ in the house of Martha and Mary had already been treated by the artist in two canvases of oval format which are at present conserved in the Biblioteca Civica di San Giovanni in Persiceto and in a private collection (see op. cit. Roli, 1988, pp. 329–330), these, however, show the figure of Christ standing. In the present painting Christ is shown seated, somewhat elevated above the women on a podium, thereby underlining his divine status. The earth colours of the background and of Martha’s robes contrast with the bright palette, perhaps reminiscent of the artist’s journey to Venice at the beginning of the century, that illuminates the foreground protagonists, as if to underline their meaning in the biblical episode. Indeed, Christ praises Mary for her commitment to the spiritual life, as the ‘good part’, compared with Martha who is caught up with her mundane concerns.

The present painting is of exceptional painterly quality: its tightly balanced and elegant composition, as well as the virtuosity with which the crumpled folds of the drapery are rendered, all testify to Donato Creti’s role as one of the leading exponents of early eighteenth-century classicism.