Salvator Mundi (Palma Vecchio)

Salvator Mundi (Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World) is a religious painting by Italian Renaissance artist Palma Vecchio, dated to c. 1518-1522. It is on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Strasbourg, France (inventory number 585).[2]

Salvator Mundi
ArtistPalma Vecchio
Yearc. 1518-1522
Mediumoil painting on panel (poplar)
MovementItalian Renaissance
Catholic art
Venetian painting
SubjectSalvator Mundi
Dimensions74 cm × 63 cm (29 in × 25 in)[1]
LocationMusée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg
Accession1898

History

edit

The painting was bought in 1898 by Wilhelm von Bode, from a collection in Padua belonging to the estate of the Giustiniani and Barbarigo families. It had long been believed to be a work by Giorgione, and the first attribution to Palma was published in 1875 by Pietro Selvatico [it]. Bernard Berenson, and some other 20th-century art historians, disputed it, but it has been universally accepted since the 1992 publication of the monograph by Philip Rylands.[1][2]

The pose and the face of Jesus Christ are reminiscent of the slightly earlier Portrait of a Poet, now in the National Gallery.[3][2] He is holding a transparent globe, almost invisible to the naked eye, and sitting in front of a green curtain opening on a landscape. This devotional work, executed in the manner of Venetian portrait painting, was very popular in its day; six copies or variations have survived (National Museum, Wrocław; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; etc.).[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Roy, Alain (June 2017). De Giotto à Goya. Peintures italiennes et espagnoles du musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Musées de la ville de Strasbourg. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-2-35125-151-5.
  2. ^ a b c Jacquot, Dominique (2006). Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Cinq siècles de peinture. Strasbourg: Musées de Strasbourg. pp. 58–59. ISBN 2-901833-78-0.
  3. ^ "Palma Vecchio". Cavallini to Veronese. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
edit