Saint Camillus of Lellis Adoring a Crucifixion
Artist: Gaetano Gandolfi (Italian, 1734 - 1802)
Date: about 1793
Dimensions:
41 3/4 × 29 1/8 in. (106 × 74 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Patrick Matthiesen of The Matthiesen Gallery, London
Object number: 2017.39
Label Text:Gaetano Gandolfi
Italian (Bologna), 1734–1802
Saint Camillus of Lellis Adoring a Crucifixion
Oil on canvas, about 1793
Gift of Patrick Matthiesen of The Matthiesen Gallery, London, 2017.39
In this painting, Gaetano Gandolfi depicts an Italian priest, Camillus (Camillo) de Lellis (1550–1614), as he experiences a miraculous vision. As the saint was praying tearfully before a crucifix, he saw the hands of the figure of the crucified Christ reach toward him and heard a voice saying, "O faint of heart, why are you troubled? Carry on with my support, for it is my work, not yours." Camillus founded the Camillians, or the Ministers of the Sick, a congregation of male nurses who tended those who were ill, battle-wounded, or plague-stricken. The red cross on the kneeling figure’s cassock (clerical robe) is a precursor of the symbols later used by the international aid movements Red Cross and Red Crescent. Camillus was canonized in 1746.
Born to a family of artists, Gandolfi worked in Bologna where he enjoyed a prolific career as a painter of private devotional pictures such as this example. He also painted monumental altarpieces and murals for churches, decorative frescoes for palaces, as well as portraits and allegorical and historical subjects.
Italian (Bologna), 1734–1802
Saint Camillus of Lellis Adoring a Crucifixion
Oil on canvas, about 1793
Gift of Patrick Matthiesen of The Matthiesen Gallery, London, 2017.39
In this painting, Gaetano Gandolfi depicts an Italian priest, Camillus (Camillo) de Lellis (1550–1614), as he experiences a miraculous vision. As the saint was praying tearfully before a crucifix, he saw the hands of the figure of the crucified Christ reach toward him and heard a voice saying, "O faint of heart, why are you troubled? Carry on with my support, for it is my work, not yours." Camillus founded the Camillians, or the Ministers of the Sick, a congregation of male nurses who tended those who were ill, battle-wounded, or plague-stricken. The red cross on the kneeling figure’s cassock (clerical robe) is a precursor of the symbols later used by the international aid movements Red Cross and Red Crescent. Camillus was canonized in 1746.
Born to a family of artists, Gandolfi worked in Bologna where he enjoyed a prolific career as a painter of private devotional pictures such as this example. He also painted monumental altarpieces and murals for churches, decorative frescoes for palaces, as well as portraits and allegorical and historical subjects.
On view