Antonio Guardi’s vivid brushwork imparts an atmospheric quality to this painting inspired by the epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata (“Jerusalem Delivered”). Written by Torquato Tasso, and published in 1581, the poem was loosely based on the First Crusade. Its many romantic and magical episodes were deeply stimulating to artists. Guardi combined two sequential moments here: we see God’s messenger, the angel Gabriel, returning to heaven having delivered the news to Godfrey that he has been chosen to lead this First Crusade. In response, Godfrey delivers an impassioned speech to rouse the knights in their campaign. The painting formed part of an ambitious series of eight canvases whose narratives derived from Gerusalemme Liberata, and this may account for the tall, narrow format that Guardi selected for the composition.
Details
- Artist Name: Antonio Guardi (Italian, 1699-1760)
- Title: Godfrey Unites the Christian Peers and Knights (formerly Godfrey of Boulogne Summons His Chiefs to Council)
- Date: c. 1750-55
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 98-1/8 x 43 in. (249.2 x 109.2 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1976.17.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Richard White, 2nd earl of Bantry (1800-1868), County Cork, Ireland, by 1820/1830, by descent to;
Mrs. Clodagh Shelswell-White, by 1956, to;
[Patrick O’Connor, with Neville Orgel and others in a consortium, Dublin, ca. 1956];
[Neville Orgel, Dublin (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 27 November 1963, lot 50, bought in by “Graham”)].*
[Herbert N. Bier, London, sold July, 1969 to];
[Schaeffer Galleries, Inc., New York, stock no. 2588, sold 29 November 1976 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation
Mostra dei Guardi
- Venice, Palazzo Grassi, 1965-06-05 to 1965-10-10
- Muraro, M., The Burlington Magazine, p. 428
- Morassi, Antonio, Emporium, p. 248
- Watson, Francis J. B., Problemi Guardeschi: Atti del convegno di studi promossi della Mostra dei Guardi, p. 212
- Palluchini, R., Festschrift Eberhardt Hanfstaengl zum 75 Geburtstag, 1961, pp. 82-83
- Mahon, D., Problemi Guardeschi: Atti del convegno di studi promossi della Mostra dei Guardi, 1967, pp. 91-99
- Morassi, Antonio, I Guardi, 1972, pp. 90, 322
- Shapley, F., Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 1979, pp. 231, 233
- Knox, G., Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 1990, pp. 89-90
- De Grazia, D. and E. Garberson et al., Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, 1996, p. 149
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1383 pp. 400-401
- Renato Miracco, Italian Treasures in the U.S. An Itinerary of Art, 2014, p. #43
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