Artwork
Saint Mark
Saint Mark is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Giorgio Vasari. It dates from 1570 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Saint Mark is executed in oil on panel, a support consistent with Vasari's late practice for small devotional commissions. The work is classified as a religious painting.
History & Provenance
Feigen and Damon Mezzacappa in the United States, with intervening Sotheby's sales in 1986 and 1996.
Saint Mark was commissioned in 1569 by Pope Pius V, together with a companion panel of Saint Luke, for the Chapel of the Archangel Michael in the Torre Pio of the Vatican Palace. Vasari began work on the panel in December 1570 and completed it by June 1571. The chapel was dismantled after 1750, after which the painting passed through a series of British owners, beginning probably with Charles Grignion II in Rome and then his brother Thomas Grignion in London, where it appeared at Christie's sales in 1807 and 1809.
Sir Thomas Baring acquired the work, and it descended through the Baring family at Stratton Park, Hampshire, passing to Thomas Baring, then to Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook, and to Francis George Baring, 2nd Earl of Northbrook. It was sold at Christie's in December 1919 and subsequently passed through Galerie Charles Brunner in Paris, Don Lorenzo Pellerano in Buenos Aires, and dealers Richard L. Feigen and Damon Mezzacappa in the United States, with intervening Sotheby's sales in 1986 and 1996. Mezzacappa donated the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 2012.
Overview
Giorgio Vasari's Saint Mark, completed in 1570, is an oil on panel painting from the Mannerist period. This religious work was created during the later years of Vasari, a significant figure of the Italian Renaissance. The piece exemplifies the stylistic characteristics of Mannerism, particularly through its emotional intensity and the treatment of the human form.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts Saint Mark standing prominently, his figure rendered with a sense of dignity. He is adorned in rich, flowing robes of deep blue and red, which add to his authoritative presence. In his left hand, the saint holds a book, a traditional attribute signifying his role as an evangelist. His facial expression conveys a calm resolve and inner strength.
Context
Created in 1570, Saint Mark represents a work from Giorgio Vasari's later artistic career. Vasari was a multifaceted talent during the Italian Renaissance, renowned not only as a painter and architect but also as a pioneering art historian. This painting reflects the mature style of an artist deeply embedded in the cultural and intellectual currents of his time, contributing to the rich artistic output of the Mannerist era.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer known for his work Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, considered…
