1737 - GIACOMO BERTESI

GIACOMO BERTESI (sphere of) Apparition of the Virgin of Mercede to St. Raymond Rare bas-relief carved panel in walnut and precious woods, 134x96 cm; pierced friezes in gilt wood and broken tympanum cymatium; some lacking. The large wooden panel under consideration is a Lombard work close to the manner of Cremonese sculptor Giacomo Bertesi, whose major works are preserved in the churches of Soresina and Cremona. Bertesi went to Spain around 1690, where he stayed for a long time, especially in Valencia. The buttery, curly jumble of figures and clouds is characteristic of Lombard sculpture of the time. Of interest is the iconography of the Virgin's apparition to St. Raymond Nonnatus (Ramon Nonat, 1200/1204 -1240), a Spanish religious who belonged to the Mercedarian Order and was canonized in 1626. The saint is identified by the crown of thorns he wears on his head, which, according to tradition, was given to him by Jesus during an apparition as a symbol of a life of suffering and, at the same time, the promise of Paradise.