Caravaggio, Young Sick Bacchus,
1593-4
But Caravaggio was seriously ill; he saw Rome as a safe haven and asked his patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese for protection. Their deal was Borghese would obtain the pardon, and Caravaggio would give the Cardinal all his unsold works. Expecting Pope Paul V (1605-21) would enforce the deal, Caravaggio left for Rome with his art all packed up. A week after leaving Naples, Caravaggio’s small boat sailed into the large, barracked Palo Laziale port and was promptly arrested. Seeing trouble looming again, the boat went to sea for Porto Ercole, taking Caravaggio’s works. After days, Caravaggio bought his freedom, searching for his art and running on the beach that hot July. He reached Porto Ercole by mid July 1610, but prison and fleeing had seriously weakened him, dying the next day. Caravaggio was thrown in a pauper’s grave, yet when news of his death spread, grief was intense.
Since Caravaggio had promised the paintings to Cardinal Borghese, he knew they were his! He sent his agent to find them and on 29th July the agent found 3 in the palace of Caravaggio’s former patron, Costanza Colonna Sforza. Alas the Prior of Capua from the Order of Malta app-eared, forcibly taking the paintings. NB Caravaggio had been defrocked in Malta, but the Prior ordered that when a knight died, his estate reverted to the Order of Malta.
Remember that since youth, Caravaggio had been a hoodlum; he scorned convention, disdained the law and was often violent. And unlike his contemporaries, Caravaggio worked alone, in his own style, and showed his patrons little respect. Yet his work had captivated people with its unique intensity. While Protestants disliked image cults, Cathol-ics embraced art’s religious power. Art played a key role in guiding the Faithful, including the illiterate, so religious art was explicit and powerful; it had to inspire Catholics to feel Christ’s sacrifice and martyrs’ suffering. Many artists loved dramatic realism, with boldly contrasting light and dark. Caravaggio had gained naturalism in both religious and secular scenes. And Orazio Gentileschi, Jusepe de Ribera and Pietro Paolini were faithful Caravaggisti.
**
Louis Finson (1574–1617) was a Flemish draughtsman, copyist and art dealer who painted portraits, religious compositions, symbolic art and genre scenes. Moving to Italy early in his career, he became one of the first Flemish followers of Caravaggio whom he knew in Naples; and the two artists were similarly aged.
Finson produced a number of copies after works by Caravaggio. He worked for years in various cities in France where he created altarpieces and portraits. And he was known for being the co-owner, together with his fellow Flemish painter and business partner Abraham Vinck, of two paintings by Caravaggio. Finson played a major role in the Northern Caravaggesque movement through his own works, and through his art dealership. Finson's Self Portrait 1613 is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Marseille. This work was one of the matching self-portraits painted by Finson in what he called a distinct Caravaggesque style.
For c400 years nothing more was seen of them. Then in 1978 a French medical student, Christian Morand, got lucky. At a Marseille Exhibition of Provençal Art, he saw two special works. Attributed to Louis Finson (1580–1617), the two works come from the collection of scholar Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. The oil paintings, 1) St Sebastian and 2) Penitent St Jerome 1595, were being auctioned in 1991. By then a specialist, Dr Morand failed to convince Marseille’s Musée des Beaux-Arts to buy them. So he went to the auction himself, to save the art for Provence .. but was outbid.
Later in Avignon, Morand walked in a back street and saw the 2 paintings in a shop window!! The doctor told the shop-owner his tale but didn’t have enough money to buy them; the owner was so taken by his passion that he offered a deal. Morand could take the paintings away with him, and each month he’d pay what he could. Morand was delighted. He bought a splendid new home and his 2 Finsons became the heart of his art collection. Now the family wondered if these fine paintings seemed too good for copies. And were unsigned! So what if they were actually by Caravaggio? Then Morand would need special insurance, security and conservation, all too costly!
In 2014 another miracle occurred - a Judith Beheading Holofernes was found in a Toulouse attic. Like Morand’s works, Judith was unsigned and there was also debate about the attribution. Some experts thought it was by Finson, or another Caravaggesque artist. Others thought that it was a lost Caravaggio which he’d given to Finson when he left Naples in 1607. Alas an American bought it pre-auction.
The Morands visited galleries & archives, consulted specialists and sent the Finson paintings for tests. Unable to find any other artists who could have painted these works, the Morands became convinced that Caravaggio was the only plausible artist of the paintings Caravaggio had lost at sea in 1610! Mind you, there were still issues. After Caravaggio’s death, Prior of Capua DID take some paintings from Naples’ Colonna Palace, under the Order of Malta’s instructions. He probably sent them back to Malta or used them to settle Caravaggio’s debts. It was possible that Morand’s works were among those he took, or perhaps smuggled out of Colonna Palace earlier.
Since Caravaggio had promised the paintings to Cardinal Borghese, he knew they were his! He sent his agent to find them and on 29th July the agent found 3 in the palace of Caravaggio’s former patron, Costanza Colonna Sforza. Alas the Prior of Capua from the Order of Malta app-eared, forcibly taking the paintings. NB Caravaggio had been defrocked in Malta, but the Prior ordered that when a knight died, his estate reverted to the Order of Malta.
Remember that since youth, Caravaggio had been a hoodlum; he scorned convention, disdained the law and was often violent. And unlike his contemporaries, Caravaggio worked alone, in his own style, and showed his patrons little respect. Yet his work had captivated people with its unique intensity. While Protestants disliked image cults, Cathol-ics embraced art’s religious power. Art played a key role in guiding the Faithful, including the illiterate, so religious art was explicit and powerful; it had to inspire Catholics to feel Christ’s sacrifice and martyrs’ suffering. Many artists loved dramatic realism, with boldly contrasting light and dark. Caravaggio had gained naturalism in both religious and secular scenes. And Orazio Gentileschi, Jusepe de Ribera and Pietro Paolini were faithful Caravaggisti.
**
Louis Finson (1574–1617) was a Flemish draughtsman, copyist and art dealer who painted portraits, religious compositions, symbolic art and genre scenes. Moving to Italy early in his career, he became one of the first Flemish followers of Caravaggio whom he knew in Naples; and the two artists were similarly aged.
Finson produced a number of copies after works by Caravaggio. He worked for years in various cities in France where he created altarpieces and portraits. And he was known for being the co-owner, together with his fellow Flemish painter and business partner Abraham Vinck, of two paintings by Caravaggio. Finson played a major role in the Northern Caravaggesque movement through his own works, and through his art dealership. Finson's Self Portrait 1613 is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Marseille. This work was one of the matching self-portraits painted by Finson in what he called a distinct Caravaggesque style.
For c400 years nothing more was seen of them. Then in 1978 a French medical student, Christian Morand, got lucky. At a Marseille Exhibition of Provençal Art, he saw two special works. Attributed to Louis Finson (1580–1617), the two works come from the collection of scholar Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. The oil paintings, 1) St Sebastian and 2) Penitent St Jerome 1595, were being auctioned in 1991. By then a specialist, Dr Morand failed to convince Marseille’s Musée des Beaux-Arts to buy them. So he went to the auction himself, to save the art for Provence .. but was outbid.
Later in Avignon, Morand walked in a back street and saw the 2 paintings in a shop window!! The doctor told the shop-owner his tale but didn’t have enough money to buy them; the owner was so taken by his passion that he offered a deal. Morand could take the paintings away with him, and each month he’d pay what he could. Morand was delighted. He bought a splendid new home and his 2 Finsons became the heart of his art collection. Now the family wondered if these fine paintings seemed too good for copies. And were unsigned! So what if they were actually by Caravaggio? Then Morand would need special insurance, security and conservation, all too costly!
In 2014 another miracle occurred - a Judith Beheading Holofernes was found in a Toulouse attic. Like Morand’s works, Judith was unsigned and there was also debate about the attribution. Some experts thought it was by Finson, or another Caravaggesque artist. Others thought that it was a lost Caravaggio which he’d given to Finson when he left Naples in 1607. Alas an American bought it pre-auction.
The Morands visited galleries & archives, consulted specialists and sent the Finson paintings for tests. Unable to find any other artists who could have painted these works, the Morands became convinced that Caravaggio was the only plausible artist of the paintings Caravaggio had lost at sea in 1610! Mind you, there were still issues. After Caravaggio’s death, Prior of Capua DID take some paintings from Naples’ Colonna Palace, under the Order of Malta’s instructions. He probably sent them back to Malta or used them to settle Caravaggio’s debts. It was possible that Morand’s works were among those he took, or perhaps smuggled out of Colonna Palace earlier.
Finson, St Jerome,
1595
Finson, Self Portrait, 1613
, Saint Sebastian
c1610
One last thought, presented by art expert Eric Turquin, France’s leading authority on Old Masters paintings, had staked his reputation on authenticating Carvaggio’s lost Judith and Holofernes being the real thing. The painting, depicting a grisly biblical scene of the beautiful Jewish widow Judith beheading a sleeping Assyrian general, was to be auctioned in Toulouse. Turquin told Agence France-Presse he was sure the painting was by the volatile and violent genius. Not only is it a Caravaggio, but of all the Caravaggios that are known today, this is one of the great pictures! But Italian specialists had their doubts.
They believe it is a copy made by the Flemish artist Louis Finson, who worked alongside Caravaggio. On top of x-rays, cleaning showed that the painting was changed afterwards, with lots of retouching. The experts speculated that Finson possibly added his own touches to the canvas after Caravaggio left suddenly for Malta in 1607. The fiercely original painter had created his first canvas on the theme, the far more formal Judith Beheading Holofernes in 1598, in Palazzo Barberini in Rome.
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12 comments:
The Four Elements is a painting by Louis Finson, a 17th century Flemish Baroque painter, collector and art dealer of Caravaggio. Nicholas Hall sold it on behalf of a private collector to the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation at the MFA Houston.
Read the provenance of this work since 1617.
Helen, do we have any evidence that Caravaggio mentioned Finson to a third person, wrote about the Flemish artist in a letter or met with him in public view? Once Caravaggio was dead, Finson could say anything he wanted about the Italian.
Hello Hels, When Old Masters suddenly reenter society, it is wise to be very suspicious of them. Even if there is any genuine element to them, repairs, cleaning and inpainting have all taken their tolls. Also, we today have a mental image of an artist standing in front of a blank canvas and working without help or interruption until the painting is finished, yet for a large number of historic (and even modern) paintings, this sequence is not accurate. I have repeatedly noticed in recent years that when a superstar-old-master painting comes up for auction, something seems drastically wrong with it. These "rediscovered" paintings never seem like the ones I see in museums, and often are way cropped down and have other condition issues, and usually are hideously ugly to boot. Buyer beware was never a more appropriate motto.
--Jim
For different views about Caravaggio and Finson, read Anna Van Densky Blog
https://vandensky.com/tag/louis-finson/
Nicholas
many many thanks for the post.
Although I found the painting to be violent, it is true that the work still manages to confront the viewer with a range of emotionally-charged figures in motion. What I didn't know is how you followed the path of the painting, from families to auction houses to galleries.
A lot went on the painting world.
Deb
Louis Finson was definitely living in Naples during Caravaggio’s years there, and certainly admired the Master. But I cannot find anywhere a mention by Caravaggio of the younger artist.
Finson probably owned a version of the Caravaggio painting of Judith and Holofernes. The most famous version of Judith done by Caravaggio was commissioned by the Roman banker, Ottavio Costa, and would have still been in his possession then. Finson created a Judith painting, and his composition was similar to the one that was discovered in Toulouse. Finson’s execution was less polished, suggesting that this was his source, not viceversa.
http://www.artbouillon.com/2016/04/making-cut-has-lost-caravaggio-been.html
Parnassus
I wouldn't have minded if Finson (or any other young artist) copied his hero's style and colours. As long as he clearly signed Finson on the front and acknowledged the original source of inspiration.
The problem is when the auction house believes the painting was really by the master, but this original work was lost for centuries. Or it was done by the master and then worked on by the younger artist. Or it was done by the younger artist, but his authorship was kept a secret.
Most buyers would take the risk, I think, to get a once in a century art treasure.
Student
I have never met another art historian or blogger who discussed Finson, so I am delighted to be shown Anna Van Densky Blog.
"Those days artists had no notion of copyright, and making of a copy of a masterpiece was not seen as a violation of author’s rights. So someone, who was sincerely impressed by a canvas of Caravaggio was doing his absolute best to share his experience with the other audiences, especially foreign ones, without feeling of guilt. It would also be logical to make an adaptation of the canvas copy to a foreign taste, translating drama into preferred visual language of the audience". I love it.
Margaret
that is so true ! Some artists made a fortune and some artists starved in the streets. Art galleries/lecturers/auctioneers/patrons could also make a living honestly or in very dodgy circumstances.
Egon Schiele died at 28, Frédéric Bazille at 28, Georges Seurat 31, Raphael 37, Amedeo Modigliani 35, Antoine Watteau 37, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 36 and Vincent van Gogh at 37. Even Caravaggio died early (39).
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many thanks for reading the post. Are you a Caravaggio fan? Had you heard of Finson? I had not.
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