Ubaldo Gandolfi, San Matteo della Decima, Italy 1728–1781 Ravenna, Italy, Virgin, Child, and God the Father with Saint Joseph, ca. 1775, Pen, ink, and wash with black chalk underdrawing, Gift of Mrs. Toivo Laminan (Margaret Chamberlin, Class of 1929) 1963.35

Ubaldo Gandolfi (1728-1781) was a famed Bolgnese painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Born in San Matteo della Decima, he attended the Accademia Clementina under Felice Torelli and other prolific masters. He would later become the principe of his alma mater in 1772. Ubaldo, his sons Giovanni Battista and Ubaldo Lorenzo, and niece Clementina, are considered by scholars to be among the last members of the Bolognese school of painting. This movement was characterized by a resurgence of High Renaissance aesthetics, an emphasis on figure drawing, and clarity and naturalism, in contrast to the artificiality of the Mannerist movement of the same period. Ubaldo, apprenticed under Ecole Lelli, emphasized anatomical accuracy in his work, perfecting physical proportions and intricate, realistic detail of the human form. He received artistic recognition from a young age, winning a prize in figure drawing in 1745, and a drawing medal in 1759.

As viewers we are acutely aware of our position looking in at an intimate scene: the figures, absorbed within their own drama, do not look back to meet our eyes. This drawing is possibly a preparatory sketch for a large painting of the Holy Family in the Museo Diocesano in Vicenza. Though the positions of Mary and Jesus are altered in this final rendering, it is fascinating to see how elements included in our preparatory work evolved into the painting. The strong lines of Mary’s left leg and the small detail of her right foot, appearing from beneath her robes, remain, as do the details of Joseph’s staff and God’s flowing hair and robes. The addition of cherubs around the Holy Family, as well as the central Holy Spirit represented by a dove, identify the subject matter through religious iconography as the Holy Trinity.

-Gwen Zwirko, Class of  2019

Gift of Mrs. Toivo Laminan (Margaret Chamberlin, Class of 1929)