[stag_toggle style=”normal” title=”Detalii despre piesă” state=”closed”]Madona adorând Pruncul (Rugăciunea din pădure)
Copie după: Fra Filippo Lippi (1406 (?) – 1469)
Autor: Ottilia Michail – Oteteleşanu (1885-1974)
Datat: 1911, cu negru, dreapta jos
ulei/lemn;
dimensiuni: 1250 x 1150 cm
inv: 11629/ P 243 / Ps 20[/stag_toggle]
The work is a copy of the original located at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (originally at the Dahlem Museum in Berlin), made in 1911 by the painter Ottilia Michail-Oteteleşanu, for the painting gallery of King Carol I of Romania and is part of the artistic heritage of Peleş Castle.
The composition depicts the scene of the adoration of the Infant Jesus by the Virgin Mary, assisted by the infant Saint John the Baptist and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the Cistercian order, with the blessing of God the Father. The silhouette of the characters is circumscribed around an ellipsoidal shape crossed by a vertical line, the rays starting from the Holy Spirit and directed towards Jesus.
In the foreground is the kneeling Virgin seen from three-quarters, placed on the right side of the canvas, adoring the Child. The Child, unwrapped, is seated on a meadow of flowers and holds a finger to his lips.
Pruncul Isus face legătura cu partea stângă a compoziţiei în care se află Sfântul Ioan Botezătorul reprezentat din faţă, cu trupul uşor unduit, cu mâna stângă la piept, cu dreapta ţinând o cruce cu bagheta lungă pe care se află o inscripţie: „ • ECCE ANGNUS DEI ECCE H“. În planul din spate se află Sfântul Bernhard în rugăciune pe o stâncă, reprezentat doar bust. Forma elipsoidală este încheiată de figura lui Dumnezeu Tatăl cu mâinile întinse în semn de binecuvântare, dedesubt Sfântul Duh. Personajele sunt amplasate într-un peisaj de pădure cu stânci şi pâraie. De remarcat interesantul traseu, în forma de „S“, realizat în stânga de o stâncă în trepte, reluând parcă poziţia Sf. Ioan şi ca pandant în dreapta, un pârâu cu mici cascade.
The presence of an axe stuck in a tree trunk, on which is inscribed the name of Fra Filippo: • NACH FRATER PHILIPPUS • P refers to some passages from Luke 3, 9 and Matthew 3, 10, namely that "the axe will cut down by the root the trees that do not bear good fruit".
Fra Filippo Lippi, was born in 1406 in Florence and died on October 9, 1469, in Spoleto. Considered an Early Renaissance painter, Lippi was influenced in his artistic creation by Lorenzo Monaco and especially by Masaccio, whom he often met at the Carmelite monastery in Florence and at the Brancacci chapel. Later, the one who would have a decisive role in his formation would be Beato Angelico.
Fra Filippo is famous for his numerous depictions of the Virgin, with elegant silhouettes and facial features of remarkable finesse and transparency. He was the master of Botticelli, who entered his studio in 1465, and in turn trained Filippo's son, the young Filippino Lippi, as a painter.
The work signed by Ottilia Michail-Oteteleşanu can be considered a good quality copy. The chromatics, in fine touches of browns, ochres, with accents of faded blue and tones of red respecting the original work, give the scene personality and beauty.
The original was originally in the chapel of the Medici-Riccardi Palace in Florence and is related iconographically and compositionally to two other panels for the altar of the Annalena monastery (Florence, Uffizi Museum) and another for the Camoldi im Casentino monastery, both made by Fra Filippo, around 1450-1460.
Ottilia Michail-Oteteleşanu (b. 1885 – d. 1974) versatile artist, specialist in enamel art. Daughter of a distinguished physician, of Aromanian origin, and his wife, Eugenia Raut, descendant of a family of Polish nobles settled in Romania after 1848. Her first teacher was Sava Henţia (between 1899 – 1903). In the entourage of the Royal House, she met Nicolae Grigorescu, (a friend of his father, Vasile Michail), who advised her to go to study abroad. In 1904 she was introduced to Queen Elisabeth of Romania. She took her under her protection and offered her a scholarship to study in Berlin. In 1905, she began her studies at the School of Decorative Arts in Berlin, in the class of the enamel specialist, Hanns Bastanier (1885-1966). In Berlin, she frequented the house of the writer Ion Luca Caragiale, together with her brother, a pianist of great talent. She continued her studies in Paris, at the Julian Academy. After finishing these, she became a painter of the Royal House and an artistic protégé of Queen Elisabeth. Together they painted illuminations with biblical texts and miniatures of particular beauty. In 1915, she married Şerban Oteteleşanu, a nobleman of old lineage, who was descended from the Buzeşti brothers, former generals of Michael the Brave.
Even after the death of her protector, Queen Elisabeth, Ottilia remained in the royal entourage, being the one who executed the last portraits of the first kings of Romania, for which she made preliminary studies in pastel.
Before World War II, she met a number of remarkable personalities at Peleş Castle, including George Enescu and Cella Delavrancea, Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaş, for whom she even made a memorable portrait, in pastel, a portrait that was donated by the historian's family to the Museum of the Romanian Peasant. A period of anonymity followed until the 1960s, when she became artistic advisor to the Romanian Patriarchate, where she founded and coordinated the enamel workshop. From that period, the four great imperial icons in enamel, worked by the artist between 1961-1964, and exhibited today in the Patriarchal Cathedral, remained emblematic.
Ottilia Michail-Oteteleşanu remains a talented creator and devoted to painting, as evidenced by the massive collection of over a hundred works, consisting of engravings, drawings, oil paintings, watercolors and enamels, saved by descendants from being wasted, along with family documents.