A ter Brugghen exhibition in Modena

Ter Brugghen at the Galleria Estense, in Emilia, not far from Bologna, in the home of the Carracci and their pupils rather than the Caravaggios: such an exhibition may come as a surprise at first. It is justified by the presence in the collections of a Saint Writing (probably Saint Augustine) that has long been attributed to Giovanni Serodine (ill. 1), and which was presented as such again last year in the same museum during a small exhibition devoted to a series of paintings depicting Hermits kept at the Certosa di Pavia Museum. This is a rare example of three paintings returning to the same museum in two different exhibitions a year apart with a different attribution. But that’s the whole point of this type of event: to advance the history of art.

1. Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629)
Saint Writing (Saint Augustine?)
Oil on canvas - 82 x 142 cm
Modena Galleria Estense
Photo: Galleria Estense

See the image in its page

For the least we can say is that this small exhibition devoted to ter Brugghen advances the study of Caravaggism and Utrecht painting. Many of the works on display are being shown here for the first time under the artist’s name. For others, this name had been put forward, but was never really considered to be the right one.
However, with one or two exceptions, the combination of these works is more than convincing, and helps us to understand something that has remained a mystery until now: Hendrick ter Brugghen’s activity in Italy, where he probably spent ten years, mainly in Rome, perhaps in Naples, and certainly in Milan, where he would have stayed - one of the exhibition’s theories - for around a year, collaborating with Giulio Cesare Procaccini.

2. Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629)
The Denial of Saint Peter
Oil on canvas - 288 x 190 cm
London, Spier Collection
Photo: Galleria Estense

See the image in its page

We’ll talk a little later about the newly attributed painting from the Galleria Estense, which…