The Immaculate Conception with Saints Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua
On View In:
Gallery 330
Artist:   Il Grechetto (Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione)  
Title:   The Immaculate Conception with Saints Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua  
Date:   1650  
Medium:   Oil on canvas  
Dimensions:   144 5/8 x 87 in. (367.35 x 220.98 cm) (canvas) 144 x 105 3/4 in. (365.76 x 268.61 cm) (outer frame)  
Credit Line:   The Putnam Dana McMillan Fund  
Location:   Gallery 330  

In 1649, Cardinal Girolamo Verospi commissioned this painting for a new church at the Capuchin monastery in Osimo, a small town in central Italy near the Adriatic coast. It was to be placed over the high altar. Because the church was being dedicated to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the composition of the altarpiece needed to reflect the doctrine that Mary was conceived without sin. Castiglione depicted her as the Queen of Heaven, standing on a crescent moon and attended by a heavenly host and two kneeling saints, Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua. The coat of arms at the lower left attests that all expenses of the commission were borne by the church's archdeacon and patron, Pier Filippo Fiorenzi. This painting underwent an extensive and complex restoration during the fall of 1999. The seven-week long process was fully documented through text, video, and photography, and can be viewed in the interactive computer program located through the doorway to the left of the painting.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Castiglione), Il Grechetto (Giovanni Benedetto  
Nationality:   Italian  
Life Dates:   Italian (Genoa), 1609 - 1664  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:    
Classification:   Paintings  
Physical Description:   'Immaculata' with Anthony of Padua and Francis of Assisi.  
Creation Place:   Europe, Italy, , , Genoa  
Accession #:   66.39  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts