Theodosius Repulsed from the Church by Saint Ambrose
<p>This painting depicts a historical event from the year 390 when Ambrose, the archbishop of Milan, refused to give communion to Emperor Theodosius I until he made public penance for the massacre of thousands of innocents after an insurrection. Theodosius, the last emperor to command the entire Roman Empire, eventually submitted to the archbishop’s moral authority.</p> <p>The brushwork and arrangement of figures in this composition showcase Alessandro Magnasco’s fluid, energetic style. However, for the elaborate background edifice, an imaginary interpretation of the atrium of an early Christian church, he most likely employed an unidentified specialist in architectural painting.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1700
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 155.3 × 213.5 cm (61 1/8 × 84 1/16 in.); Framed: 189.9 × 248.3 cm (74 3/4 × 97 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Alessandro Magnasco
Artist
Painting
Alessandro Magnasco was a Genoese painter of the 18th century known for dramatic, loosely handled scenes of monks, nuns, beggars, and landscapes rendered in dark, atmospheric tones. His technique employed rapid brushwork and chiaroscuro to create a sense of movement and psychological intensity across religious and secular subjects. Active primarily in Genoa and Venice, Magnasco developed a distinctive approach to figural composition that influenced Venetian painting in the decades following his death in 1749.
Full artist profile →More
More by Alessandro Magnasco
The Baptism of Christ
1740 · oil on canvas
The Choristers
1740 · oil on canvas
Christ at the Sea of Galilee
1740 · oil on canvas
The Synagogue
1725 · Oil on canvas
Ballad Singer at a Shrine of the Virgin
1720 · Brush and brown gouache and brush and brown wash, with traces of brown chalk, heightened with white chalk, over black chalk, on blue laid paper (discolored to pale brownish-gray)
Picaresque Group with a Monkey and a Magpie
1720 · Brush and brown gouache and brush and brown wash, with touches of red and brown chalk, heightened with white chalk, over black chalk, on blue laid paper (discolored to pale brownish-gray)
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Alessandro Magnasco
- Year
- 1700
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 155.3 × 213.5 cm (61 1/8 × 84 1/16 in.); Framed: 189.9 × 248.3 cm (74 3/4 × 97 3/4 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1700-018139
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified