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Giovanni Martinelli (Montevarchi, Arezzo 1600 - Florence 1659)
Memento mori: Death comes to the table
Oil on canvas
32 ½ x 40 ½ in. (82.5 x 102.8 cm)
Private collection
Estimated for USD 300,000 – USD 500,000 in Jan 2024
Elegantly dressed figures are gathered around a table laid with food and wine – a crusty tart, roasted quail and red grapes are on display in silver (or more likely pewter) plates. The party has been abruptly disturbed, its guests caught by surprise by a skeleton holding out an hour-glass; a symbol of the passage of time and inevitability of death.
The impending doom is underlined by the reaction of the youth in the foreground who impulsively unsheathes his sword. The figures’ gestures underscore the sense of unease: the two women whisper conspiratorially as they look towards the intruder, one of them pointing to the young man who looks over his shoulder at the skeleton while grabbing the edge of the table. He seems astonished and draws his other hand to his chest in recognition of the fact that he is the intended recipient of the skeleton’s warning. More on this painting
Death Comes to the Banquet Table, c. 1630-1640
Oil on canvas,
Xavier University, New Orleans
Artists use “Memento mori” (literally, “remember you must die”) symbolism to remind us of the preciousness of life. This painting also depicts a dinner party disrupted by the sudden appearance of a skeleton (Death), who reveals an empty hourglass to one of the revelers. The featureless black of the background serves to obscure the skeleton and further accentuate the vibrancy of the diners’ fine clothes and the abundance of food on the table. It is in the subtler details, like the pie sitting in front of the victim, where Martinelli reveals the moral lesson of his painting. The pie is the fullness of life, from which the young man has only experienced a sliver. The pie’s missing slice is situated between two glasses of wine: one red, one white. The red wine, symbolizing church communion sacrament, is elevated and isolated on a separate tray. The white wine, symbolizing earthly concerns, lies closer to the pie sliver, revealing Martinelli’s moral that the victim’s short life was lived pleasurably on earth but neglectful of spiritual concerns. More on this painting
Giovanni Martinelli (Montevarchi, Arezzo 1600 - Florence 1659) was an Italian, Baroque era painter active mainly in Florence. On the 400th anniversary of his birth, the artist finally received the acknowledgement he merits; He was the subject, first, of a monographic volume containing various essays dedicated to aspects of his brilliant sacred and profane production, both on canvas and in frescoes, and, subsequently, of an exhibition organized by the Uffizi in his native town.
Martinelli started his apprenticeship in the studio of Jacopo Ligozzi in Florence, and stayed there until 1625. Though there is no documented trace of the artist during the following ten years, he most likely sojourned in Rome, beginning a long and profitable period of study.
Martinelli painted allegories characterized by the prevailing influence of Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi as well as the French Vouet and Valentin. The faces of the protagonists in the paintings of those years are rendered with exceptional clarity, of Caravaggesque derivation, and illuminated by extraordinarily clear, cold colour tones.
In 1636, Martinelli began to paint more complex allegories and to darken the range of colour tones. Although devoid of any chronological reference, the paintings made in this stylistic phase clearly distinct themselves from the ones created in the earlier periods. More on Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli (Montevarchi, Arezzo 1600 - Florence 1659) was an Italian, Baroque era painter active mainly in Florence. On the 400th anniversary of his birth, the artist finally received the acknowledgement he merits; He was the subject, first, of a monographic volume containing various essays dedicated to aspects of his brilliant sacred and profane production, both on canvas and in frescoes, and, subsequently, of an exhibition organized by the Uffizi in his native town.
Martinelli started his apprenticeship in the studio of Jacopo Ligozzi in Florence, and stayed there until 1625. Though there is no documented trace of the artist during the following ten years, he most likely sojourned in Rome, beginning a long and profitable period of study.
Martinelli painted allegories characterized by the prevailing influence of Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi as well as the French Vouet and Valentin. The faces of the protagonists in the paintings of those years are rendered with exceptional clarity, of Caravaggesque derivation, and illuminated by extraordinarily clear, cold colour tones.
In 1636, Martinelli began to paint more complex allegories and to darken the range of colour tones. Although devoid of any chronological reference, the paintings made in this stylistic phase clearly distinct themselves from the ones created in the earlier periods. More on Giovanni Martinelli
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