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BERENICE CUTTING OFF HER HAIRAntonio Molinari SN 175, oil on canvas, c. 1695-1705 From: "The Pages"
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ARTIST:
Antonio’s father was the painter Giovanni Molinari (1633-87). Born in Venice, he studied there with Antonio Zanchi. His style had its roots in the naturalism & tenebrism (dark,shadowy gloom) of Neopolitan painting. Molinari tempered his work, tho’ with the addition of classicizing elements & rich, glowing colors.
By the 1680s he had developed his characteristic depiction of figures in poses of extreme torsion & vigorous movement, arranged in graceful compositions. He drew subjects from the Bible, antiquity, & mythology. Many of his drawings also survive, showing great speed & fluency in composition.
Molinari has been called an artist of transition, but he was never a direct precursor of Venetian 18th c styles. His voluminous firmly-modeled forms & rich colors remained rooted in Baroque. He had few followers, but Piazzetta carried some elements of his style into the next century.
SUBJECT:
In 247 BC, Berenice married Pharaoh Ptolemy III. When her husband embarked on an expedition, she cut off her hair and dedicated it to Venus as a sacrifice to bring her husband safely home. When he did safely return, he named a star after her shorn locks.
PAINTING:
This painting has been attributed to both Lazzarini & Pellegrini, but in 1959 it was given to Antonio Molinari. (Since Lazzarini & Molinari worked together in the Palazzo Moro-Lin, it is not surprising that they shared a common style, derived from Giordano.)
The square format suggests some kind of architectural setting, and the subject would lend itself to a series of classical heroines.