Lazarro Baldi
Pistoia, 1624 – Rome, 1703
Apotheosis of a Saint
Brown wash and white gouache reheightened, on black chalk.
248 x 157 mm – 9 ¾ x 6 3/16 in.
Lazzaro Baldi was an Italian painter and engraver of the Roman Baroque. Born in Pistoia, Tuscany, he was one of the principal pupils of Pietro da Cortona, whose monumental, colorful style, typical of 17thᵉ century Baroque painting, he adopted.
Settling in Rome, Baldi produced numerous religious frescoes and decorations for churches and palaces, including Saint Marcello al Corso, San Giovanni in Laterano, and the Palazzo Pamphilj. His art is characterized by balanced composition, elegant figures and soft light, reflecting a transition from the dynamic baroque of Cortona to a more serene, classical style.
He was also professor and president of the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome, where he trained several young artists. Baldi died in Rome in 1703, leaving behind a body of work marked by piety, harmony and technical mastery.
Our drawing depicts a saint, probably a monk or doctor of the Church, perhaps St. Charles Borromeo, kneeling with arms open in a gesture of mystical ecstasy. His gaze turns to the sky, where faint angelic figures appear. In the foreground, putti support a cross and clouds symbolizing the heavenly vision. The artist uses a modulated brown wash and white highlights to animate the light on the drapery and clouds, creating an effect of depth characteristic of the Roman Baroque.
The influence of Pietro da Cortona can be seen in the style of the softly-modeled, softly-contoured figures, but with a more restrained, meditative sensibility. The vertical composition and the ascent of the saint’s gaze towards the divine light recall the frescoes executed by Baldi in Rome, notably at San Giovanni in Laterano and San Marcello al Corso.
The artist’s mixed technique, as well as the nervous but clear line, the fluid construction of the drapery and the face turned in an expression of peaceful ecstasy, can be found in other autograph drawings by the artist.
A drawing of the same subject, less powerful, preserved in the Louvre (INV 17853) (Fig1) as anonymous, had been compared to Baldi’s work by J.-F. Méjanes and Catherine Legrand.
Condition : Good condition, slight oxidation in the white highlights. laid down on an old mount.
Gilded wood Louis XVI style frame.
