Artwork
Sketch for "The Four Prophets of Israel" (for Il Gesù, Rome)
Sketch for "The Four Prophets of Israel" (for Il Gesù, Rome) is an oil painting by the High Baroque Italian artist Giovanni Battista Gaulli. It dates from 1688 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
As an oil sketch, it likely served to test figural groupings, color, and lighting effects before transfer to the monumental scheme.
The sketch is executed in oil paint on canvas, a medium consistent with Gaulli's preparatory practice for large-scale commissions such as the decoration of Il Gesù in Rome. The work is modest in scale, measuring approximately 67.3 cm in height by 55 cm in width, a format suited to a study rather than a finished altarpiece or fresco cartoon.
Stylistically, the piece reflects Gaulli's Baroque manner, with the illusionistic, dynamically figured compositions that defined his contribution to the Gesù program. As an oil sketch, it likely served to test figural groupings, color, and lighting effects before transfer to the monumental scheme.
History & Provenance
The oil sketch was made in connection with the Jesuit decorative program for Il Gesù in Rome and executed by Giovanni Battista Gaulli in 1688 as a preparatory study for a larger work. Gaulli, an Italian painter active in the later seventeenth century, created the piece using oil on canvas, measuring approximately 67.3 centimeters in height and 55 centimeters in width. The work remained in Italy before entering the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is presently held under accession number 1969.131.
Overview
Giovanni Battista Gaulli’s oil sketch titled Sketch for “The Four Prophets of Israel” was executed in 1688. It serves as a preparatory study for the monumental fresco cycle he later painted on the ceiling of the Church of the Gesù in Rome. The work is now held by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts four prophetic figures suspended in an airy space. A man in a red shirt grasps a long staff, while another figure is robed in gold and white. Below them, two plump infants cling together, and a cherubic figure rests on a cloud, gazing upward, suggesting a heavenly assembly of prophetic authority.
Context
Gaulli, often called Baciccio, worked under the influence of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose theatrical sensibility is evident in the dynamic poses and swirling arrangement of the figures. The study reflects the Baroque emphasis on movement, emotional intensity, and the illusion of space.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio or Baciccia (Genoese nicknames for Giovanni Battista), was an Italian Baroque painter working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods.
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