Permanent Collection

1600–1700

WORKSABOUT THE PERIODARTISTS

WORKS

Godfried Maes

(Antwerp, 1649–1700)

Allegory of Hope
oil, canvas, 168,5 x 119 cm
bottom left: G. Maes fecit

ZD S 1997050, SAZU, Ljubljana

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Hope (Spes), one of the three theological virtues, is depicted as a woman with her hands folded before her breast and her face upturned towards heaven, signifying that she is not interested in earthly things, but yearns for goods which are not subject to the changes of time and to mortality. Beside her, two putti are supporting an anchor: this symbol originates from a passage in Saint Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, which says that we have in the hope of our souls “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6, 19). The style of the painting is based on models of the great Antwerp artists of the first half of the 17th century, in particular Anton van Dyck, and is manifested in the distinctly painterly interpretation, which is unfortunately impaired by the bad priming which the artist used. Until 1954 the Joanneum in Graz still had two canvases from the same series which showed Faith (Fides) and Charity (Caritas).

Restored: 1954.
Provenance: Collection of Count Edmund Attems; 1923 loaned to the Joanneum in Graz for the permanent collection; Slovenska Bistrica, Attems family castle; confiscated 1945; FCC 1945 (FCC register, p. 208, No. 6441); lent to the SAZU to furnish its offices.
Exhibitions: 1964, Ljubljana, No. 28; 1983, Ljubljana, No. 94.
Lit.: Suida 1923, p. 68, Cat. No. 181; Thieme and Becker, XXIII, 1929, p. 545; Cevc 1964, p. 30, Cat. No. 28, Fig. 25; Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 164, Cat. and Fig. No. 94.
(Painting is for the time being no longer exhibited.)

ABOUT THE PERIOD

From Mannerism to Baroque

Although imported early-Baroque works prevailed in this period and those by itinerant artists, the 17th century paved the way for the future. The political circumstances in the region were relatively stabilized in spite of the Thirty Year War and the patronage gradually grew stronger. The arrival of the Jesuits in Ljubljana, the activity of the polymath Johann Weichard Valvasor, particularly his graphic workshop at Bogenšperk/Wagensperg Castle, and the foundation of the Academia operosorum at the end of the century were the key events of the time.

Characteristic of sculptural production on the Slovenian territory in the 17th century were the so-called “golden altars”. As a rule, these were gilded and polychrome carved wooden retables with rich ornamentation, first with crustaceous patterns which turned into vine and grapes that covered architectural framework until the achantus foliage took over and obliterated architectural structure completely. The making of golden altars included several branches of fine arts: prints, carving, gilding, painting. Religious painting of the first half of the century still contains Mannerist elements; in the second half also secular motifs became more numerous, particularly genre scenes and aristocratic portraits. The artworks mainly echo northern early-Baroque influences.

Noteworthy among the newcomers who settled in Carniola with their workshops were the painter and gilder Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld in the mid-century, who had moved to Carniola from the region of the Central Alps, and the Fleming Almanach in the third quarter of the 17th century, known only by his nickname, who worked here only for a few years. The extraordinary productivity and skills of the latter are evidenced by his rare surviving works, mentions in Valvasor’s books, and aristocratic probate inventories.

ARTISTS

Owner	Birth - death
Francesco Pittoni	(Venice, ca 1654 − after 1724)
Joannes Almenak	(Antwerpen ?, ca 1640/45 – after 1684)
Anonymous	-
Alvise (Luigi) Benfatto	(Verona, 1554 – Venice, 1609)
Bartolomeo Bettera	(Bergamo, 1639 – ?, after 1688)
Antonio Calza	(Verona, 1653–1725)
Giovanni Andrea Carlone	(Genoa, 1639−1697)
Giacomo Francesco Cipper	(Feldkirchen, 1664 – Milan, 1736)
Giovanni Stefano Danedi	(Treviglio, 1618? − Milan?, 1690)
Giuseppe Diamantini	(Fossombrone, 1621–1705)
Felice Ficherelli	(San Gimignano, 1603 – Florence, 1660)
Frans Francken II	(Antwerp, 1581–1642)
Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld	(?, c. 1610 – Zagreb, 1681)
Luca Giordano	(Naples, 1634–1705)
Janez Frančišek Gladič	(Rijeka, 1635 – Ljubljana?, 1663)
Jacob Jordaens	(Antwerp, 1593–1678)
Eberhart Keilhau	(Helsingør, 1624 − Rome, 1687)
Gregorio Lazzarini	(Venice, 1655 – Villabona Veronese, 1730)
Pietro Liberi	(Padua, 1605 – Venice, 1687)
Maestro Jacopo	-
Pieter Mulier	(Haarlem, 1637 – Milan, 1701)
Jacob Pynas	(Haarlem, c. 1585 − after 1650)
Carl Ruthart	(Danzig, c. 1630 – L'Aquila, c. 1703)
Jacob van Kerckhoven	(Antwerp, c. 1637 – Venice, after 1712)
Peter van Kessel	(Antwerp, ? – Ratzeburg, 1668)
Otto van Veen	(Leiden, 1556 – Brussels, 1629)
Herman Verelst	The Hague, 1641/1642 − London, 1702)
Giuseppe Vicenzino	(active 2nd half 17th cent.)