Ideal [Dis-]Placements. Old Masters at the Pulitzer. The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
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Corrado Giaquinto, Italian, 1703 – 1766

Presentation in the Temple, c. 1764-65
Oil on canvas
Framed: 300.2 x 194.31 cm (118 3/16 x 76 1/2 inches)
Harvard Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ralph Pulitzer
1958.4

On The Presentation in the Temple - Luke 2:22-38 (NRSV)
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout. . . . It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God. . . . Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel."

Corrado Giaquinto, Italian, 1703 – 1766

Thus the fame of his worth grew to such a degree that there was no prelate or cardinal who did not want some of his works in his own gallery.

Bernardo de' Dominici, Vite dei pittori, scultori, ed architetti napoletani, rev. ed. (Naples, 1742-43; repr., Bologna: Arnoldo Forni Editore, 1971), 723. Trans. by Michael Sherberg (2008).

Corrado Giaquinto, Italian, 1703 – 1766

Saint Helena and the Emperor Constantine Presented to the Holy Trinity by the Virgin Mary, 1741-42
Oil on canvas
Framed: 348.3 x 144.3 cm (137 1/8 x 56 13/16 inches)
Saint Louis Art Museum, Purchase
31:1963

On Emperor Constantine
At that time an innumerable horde of barbarians was . . . making ready to cross the [Danube] river, in order to subjugate the entire West. At these tidings, the Emperor Constantine marched forth with his army, and camped on the other bank of the Danube. But when the number of barbarians continued to increase . . . Constantine was filled with fear at the thought of the battle which he had to undertake. But in the night an angel awoke him, and told him to lift up his head. And Constantine saw in the heavens the image of a cross described in shining light; . . . Taking heart at the heavenly vision, he had a wooden cross made, and commanded that it be carried in the van of his army; and then, falling upon the enemy, he cut them to pieces or put them to flight.

On Saint Helena
After the Passion of Christ, the precious wood of the Cross remained hidden in the earth for more than two hundred years. . . .

. . . It was Helena, the mother of Constantine, who led the search which ended in the Invention of the Holy Cross. . . .

She brought back to her son Constantine a part of the Cross, leaving the other part in the place where she had found it [in Golgotha]. . . . And she it was who ordained that every year the anniversary of the Invention of the Holy Cross should be celebrated with all solemnity.

Both quotes are from The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine [c. 1260], ed. and trans. Ryan Granger and Helmut Ripperger (New York: Arno Press, 1969), 271-72; 275.

Corrado Giaquinto, Italian, 1703 – 1766

Thus the fame of his worth grew to such a degree that there was no prelate or cardinal who did not want some of his works in his own gallery.

Bernardo de' Dominici, Vite dei pittori, scultori, ed architetti napoletani, rev. ed. (Naples, 1742-43; repr., Bologna: Arnoldo Forni Editore, 1971), 723. Trans. by Michael Sherberg (2008).

24 October 2008 through 20 June 2009

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