The Main Sources of Inspiration for the Work of the Capuchin Friar and Painter Paolo Piazza, Based on the Example of the Altarpiece in the Church of Our Lady of Angels in Prague
Abstract
The article deals with Paolo Piazza, a Capuchin friar and painter, who came to Rudolfine Prague from Venice together with the first Capuchins around the year 1600. One of the reasons this friar and painter was sent to Central Europe was in order to decorate Capuchin friaries.
The article attempts to map out the motifs that Paolo Piazza adopted from Italian models, especially Venetian ones, based on the example of the main altar in the Capuchin church of Our Lady of Angels in the Hradčany district of Prague. The theme of the altarpiece is the Vision of St.
Francis in the Portiuncula. In it are portrayed Christ, Our Lady, a kneeling St.
Francis, and angels playing musical instruments. This scene is strongly influenced by the recommendation of the Council of Trent, as it depicts a mystical scene from the life of the saint.
Paolo Piazza probably received his training in the workshop of Veronese, Palma il Giovane, and the Bassanos. He was also familiar with the work of Jacopo Tintoretto, and he incorporated these models into his works.
In the figure of Christ in the Prague altarpiece, for example, motifs can clearly be seen from Veronese's Noli me tangere (Grenoble Museum) and Tintoretto's Baptism of Christ (San Silvestro in Venice). The figure of Mary is inspired by the queen in Veronese's work The Finding of Moses (today in the National Gallery of Art in Washington).
And the angels are similar to the models in works by il Giovane and Veronese. However, Piazza also adopted motifs from Rudolfine artists, particularly so far as the visual side of the figures is concerned, for example in their hairstyle, expression, etc.
While Paolo Piazza did adopt well-known Italian models, he was able to combine them into a single painterly whole in his own distinctive style, in which he anticipated the Baroque style, which did not develop in Bohemia until later on.