St Lawrence Distributing the Riches of the Church
- Date
- 2nd half of the 18th c.
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 90,0 x 144,3 cm
- Acquisition date
- 1792
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Picture Gallery, ground floor
- Marks and inscriptions
- red number 1592 of the Stanisław August collection, bottom right
- Place of Origin
- Italy (Europe)
- Owner
- The Royal Łazienki
- Museum number
- ŁKr 921
St. Lawrence, who on the order of Pope Sixtus II (martyred in 258 during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Valerian) distributed the wealth of the church among the poor (for which he was executed by the Romans), is one of the religious subjects most frequently painted by Strozzi. …
The Łazienki painting is a copy of The Charity of St Lawrence, known from two autograph replicas: in the Portland Art Museum (Samuel H. Kress Collection, inv. no. 61.58 …) and in private collections, 8 December 2005 at Christie’s in London, lot no. 48 (C. Manzitti, Bernardo Strozzi, Torin 2013, no. 207). Camillo Manzitti dates them both to 1630–35; they were probably made in Venice, although they still show earlier, Genoese elements of the artist’s style. …
Strozzi ran a large workshop in which, as it transpires from an analysis of the artist’s posthumous inventory carried out by Manzitti (Manzitti 2013, pp. 28–29), paintings of various subjects were mass-produced for commercial purposes, including copies of the master’s compositions. It therefore seems likely from the technological examination … that the Łazienki painting, made in the 17th century, is the work of the studio. It seems to be closer to the autograph version at Christie’s rather than to the one in Portland, as the facial features and hair of the saint are rendered in a rather more detailed manner, and there is a halo above the saint’s head. …
The original 18th-century gilded frame, commissioned by Stanisław August, has survived. [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 100, pp. 369–371.]