Abstract
The Miracle of Saint Zenobius is a long-ignored masterpiece by the versatile Ciro
Ferri (Rome 1633-1689), Pietro da Cortona’s most important pupil and assistant.
Ferri’s monumental composition boasts a highly prestigious provenance: painted
for Principe Leopoldo de’ Medici, the family’s greatest patron and connoisseur in the
seventeenth century, it was unveiled in the Palazzo Pitti in 1665. Ferri shows us St
Zenobius, the first bishop of Florence and its patron saint, stopping during a procession
to listen to the pleas of a woman asking him to bring back to life the youth lying
before her on the ground. A careful iconographic analysis revealed that Ferri was intimately
familiar with, and skilfully interpreted, the legend that forms the basis for his
composition. Working for an erudite patron, he knew that subtle references to other
paintings would be both understood and welcome, and his solution to the problem of
rendering a figure hovering between life and death appreciated.
In addition to researching the work’s provenance and iconography we carried out
technological studies and analysed the master’s work methods. A comparison with an
extant preparatory sketch and the evaluation of infrared photographs revealed both
Ferri’s highly-economical approach and his virtuoso handling. In conjunction with
the artful and allusive iconography, his use of costly materials such as expensive pigments
and a large-scale canvas is indicative of the work’s high-ranking and learned
recipient.
Abbildungsnachweis
Abb. 2: Bildzitat aus: Contini 1997, 418
Abb. 4: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorenzo_ghiberti,_arca_di_
san_zanobi,_1432-35_ca.,_miracolo_del_bambino_resuscitato_03.jpg
Abb. 5: Bildzitat aus: Keith Christiansen, Early Renaissance Narrative Painting in
Italy, in: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 41, 2, 3-48, 9
Abb. 6: Bildzitat aus: Keith Christiansen (Hg.), From Filippo Lippi to Piero della
Francesca: Fra Carnevale and the making of a Renaissance master. Ausst.-Kat.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum 2005, New Haven [u.a.] 2004-05, 193
Abb. 7: Bildzitat aus: Christopher Baker & Tom Henry (Hgg.), The National Gallery.
Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 1995, 43
Abb. 11: Bildzitat aus: Prosperi Valenti Rodinò 1997, 206
Abb. 12: © Washington, National Gallery of Art
Abb. 17: Bildzitat aus: Ausst.-Kat. Florenz 2017, 41
Alle anderen: © KHM-Museumsverband
Impressum
Medieninhaber: KHM-Museumsverband, Burgring 5, 1010 Wien
Herausgeber: Sabine Haag & Stefan Weppelmann
Texte: Gudrun Swoboda & Ina Slama
Redaktion: Gudrun Swoboda
Lektorat: Karin Zeleny
Übersetzung: Agnes Stillfried
Naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen: Emmebici (Marco Cardinali, Maria
Beatrice de Ruggieri, Claudio Falcucci), Ina Slama
Publikationswesen: Benjamin Mayr
Art Director: Stefan Zeisler
Graphik: Nikolaus Czernin
Photos: Thomas Ritter, Andreas Uldrich
Bildbearbeitung: Thomas Ritter, Sanela Antic, Ina Slama, Michael Eder
Druckerei: Druckerei Walla, Wien
ISBN: 978-3-99020-176-3
© 2018 KHM-Museumsverband. Alle Rechte vorbehalten
