Italian school of the first half of the 18th century - Lot 42

Italian school of the first half of the 18th century Saint Augustine fighting heresy against Felix the Manichaean Oil on canvas. H_ 240 cm L_ 370 cm Provenance : - According to oral tradition, acquired by the Banca del Fucino from an institution in Maenza (Lazio), possibly the Augustinian convent of Santa Maria Assunta, in the first half of the 20th century. The work was restored by the Consorzio Arkè workshop (Rome) over the past decade. Our monumental painting is probably part of a cycle of paintings dedicated to the life of Saint Augustine, the origin of which is still unknown. Although this type of cycle was rather rare in 18th-century Italy compared with previous centuries, when representations of mystical saints or saints in glory were preferred, this Saint Augustine fighting heresy against Felix the Manichaean seems to have been painted by an Italian artist, not least because of its provenance. At the same time, in France, Carle Van Loo, assisted by his pupils, created the famous cycle of the life of Saint Augustine for the choir of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris. The stylistic proximity of French and Italian artists of this generation is indicative of the exchanges between these two countries, and our painting is an example of this. Stylistically, this painting, once attributed to Laurent Pécheux (1729-1821), recalls the entourage of Sebastiano Conca or artists such as Francesco Fernandi dit Imperali (1679-1740) or Giacomo Zoboli (1681-1767), about whom knowledge is still too incomplete to attribute these paintings. Saint Augustine of Hippo is a central figure in Christianity. Fundamental to the Church and Western thought, he is recognized as one of the four Latin Church Fathers and Doctor of the Church. Born in 354 to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine received a classical Latin education. A Manichaean, then a skeptic, his intellectual and spiritual itinerary made him the main architect of the synthesis between Christianity, biblical texts and Greco-Roman culture. He met Bishop Ambrose in Milan and was converted in 386. He was baptized by Ambrose in 387, along with his son and friend Alypius. He was then ordained priest and became bishop of Hippo (now Annaba). He wrote a colossal body of work, led an intense monastic and pastoral life, and fought the Manichaean, Donatist and Pelagian heresies until his death in 430. In this painting, he fights the Manichaeans, and we can see that one of the books at the bottom of the table contains extracts from his text: "De Actis cum felice manichaeo". Expert : Pierre-Antoine MARTENET