Matter and soul, light and shadow, body and spirit. Inseparable dualisms and binomials, in everyday reality as well as in so many world religions. Girolamo Forabosco, one of the major exponents of mid-17th century Veneto painting and an exceptional portrait artist, interpreted this dualism, surely at the behest of a wealthy commissioner, by painting on gold leaf spread on a wooden panel. Gold is a precious material, and naturally this choice was dictated by the requestor’s financial means, but this metal has always symbolized divine light (particularly in 14th century gold backgrounds).

In this case, as the base for an oil painting, it is even more important as it lends greater light-reflective properties to the painting. In fact, the metal surface gives the work a splendor that oil painting alone, for all its sheen, cannot emanate; the paint, just a few thousandths of a millimeter thick, allows light to partially penetrate, and if the background surface is metallic, the refraction bounces back to the viewer’s eye, affording a radiant luminosity. A painterly trick worthy of a cinematic special effect, as the face, when struck by light, seems to shine from within, thus creating a mystic, holy effect. The canvas was probably hung above a piece of furniture of a type known as a pregadio placed in the private rooms of a noble or affluent family for quiet prayer; the format was in fact typical of a bedroom or a small private chapel.

The canvas presented here can be compared with one of the same subject conserved at Staatliche Museen in Berlin, of very similarly atmospheric and richly detailed. It is quite interesting to note that Forabosco may have conceived the facial features of this Christ observing his own image, transforming his portrait into the Redeemer’s face; on this point see the Self-portrait in old age conserved at the Gallerie degli Uffizi.

A final technical observation, interesting for the purposes of an overall interpretation of the work: observing the border between the gilded support and the frame, we note that these elements were created all together as a whole on the artist’s wishes, and the completely gilded frame was, symbolically, an ideal continuation of Christ’s golden aura.