Το νέο απόκτημα του Δήμου Ηρακλείου: Δομήνικου Θεοτοκόπουλου, "Η Βάπτιση του Χριστού"

Περίληψη

The painting of the Baptism of Christ by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (figs 1, 5) was acquired by the Municipality of Heraklion at an auction at Christie’s, London, on 8 December 2004. The work had recently appeared on the market accompanied by the information that it was located in Spain by officials of Christie’s, having been in the ownership of a Spanish family from the mid-19th century. The work is currently rectangular in format (measuring 23.6 cm. in height x 18 cm. in width). Yet this was not its original shape, as it was once arched at the top and subsequently embedded into a rectangular wooden panel. The arched top indicates that it was the wing of a triptych and consequently had a representation on its reverse, which was at some point separated from that of the Baptism. The hinge marks on the left vertical edge indicate that the painting formed the inner right wing of the triptych (fig. 4). It can accordingly be linked with the triptych now in the Galleria Estense in Modena (fig. 2), which bears the signature “The hand of Domenikos” on the reverse of the central panel and is thought to have been painted by Domenikos Theotokopoulos after his arrival in Venice (1567 / 1568). The Modena triptych also has on its inner right wing a representation of the Baptism, while its dimensions (24.5 x 17.9 cm.) are very similar to those of the Herakleion panel.
The triptych of which this panel forms part seems to have had similar iconography to that of the Modena triptych. A triptych panel with the Adoration of the Shepherds (fig. 3), which is today in the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre of Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, is very probably the left wing of this triptych (fig. 4). Its dimensions (23.8 x 19.1 cm.) are similar to those of the Baptism panel. The two panels contain numerous iconographic and stylistic similarities with the comparable representations of the Modena triptych, but they are more elaborately worked and more refined: for example the stance of St John is much more successfully rendered, and the placing of the figures of Christ and of St John on the same level and not at different heights as in the Modena triptych creates a more direct and human relationship between the protagonists of the scene.
The infra-red photograph of the work (fig. 10) reveals the incredible skill with which the figures were drawn and also the artist’s concern for maximising the effect of the composition by making continual changes (pentimenti) to the design. These are evident in St John’s face and body and in the head of the angel on the left. The under-drawing of the Baptism can be compared with drawings of St John the Baptist (fig. 11) and St John the Evangelist, now in a private collection abroad, which are attributed to El Greco and ascribed to his Spanish period (c. 1577).
In this work Theotokopoulos adopted his customary practice of adopting iconographic features from contemporary prints. The city and the miniature figures in the background on the left bank of the river come from an engraving of the Baptism (fig. 9) by Giovanni Battista d’Angeli (del Moro). The angel on the right (fig. 8), with his back turned towards the viewer, is derived from an engraving by Giulio Bonasone (fig. 6), which is in turn a copy of a drawing by Parmigianino.
The Baptism contains many iconographic and stylistic features to associate it with works which Theotokopoulos painted during his stay in Venice (1567/68–1570). The use of orange and translucent blue for the clothes of the right angel has parallels in the Flight into Egypt, formerly in the Hirsch collection in Basle and now in the Prado in Madrid, and the Entombment in the National Gallery, Athens. The striking clouds in the sky, which add to the drama of the composition, recall those which the artist used in the Flight into Egypt and two paintings of St Francis receiving the Stigmata, which date from 1570 and are now in the Istituto Suor Orsola Benincasa in Naples and in a private collection abroad. The figures in the background of the composition, which are rendered in miniature, resemble those in the View of Mt Sinai in the Historical Museum, Heraklion (fig. 13).
All the above features leave no doubt that the Baptism of Christ is an unsigned work of Domenikos Theotokopoulos dating from his Venetian period (1567/68-1570).
The cleaning and conservation of the Baptism of Christ (fig. 17) in the Benaki Museum’s conservation workshops during May and June 2005 brought to light features which confirm our original ideas about the work. The new features which emerged are as follows: 1. The date MDLXVII (1567) was located during the examination of the work with a multispectral camera below the overpaintings and the original varnish, which were carefully removed by the head of the Conservation Department of the Benaki Museum, Sergios Stassinopoulos (fig. 18).
2. The wooden support of the work comes from a broad-leaved tree, a plane or a poplar.
3. Vestiges of gold leaf and bole, which were used during the gilding of the frame of the central panel of the triptych, were found on the left-hand edge of the picture. This confirms the theory that the Baptism was the inner right wing of a triptych.
4. The pigments were applied using a combination of oil and egg tempera.
5. The pigments used (lead white, lapis lazuli, azure, enamel, powdered cobalt-bearing glass) were typical of Venetian painting.
This new information may best be evaluated by comparing it with the technical examination reports of as many other works of Theotokopoulos as possible, both from his early Cretan and Venetian periods.