SIMONE FERRI DA POGGIBONSI

VISION OF ST. JACEK ODROWĄŻ (VISION OF SAINT HYACINTH)

SIMONE FERRI DA POGGIBONSI
Documented POGGIBONSI (?) 1564 – 1600
Oil on canvas
113 x 93 cm / 44.5 x 36.6 inches, with frame 133 x 113 cm / 52.5 x 44.6 inches

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Berlin

RELATED LITERATURE
K.Prijatei, Prilozi slikarstvu XV_XVII stoljece u Dubrovniku, in «Historijski zbornik», IV, 1951, pp. 186-188;
K.Prijatei, Spomenici otoka Lopuda XVII-XVIII stoljeca, in «Anali Historijskog Instituta o Dubrovniku», III, 1954, pp. 392-394;
K.Prijatei, Una proposta di Bernardo Buontalenti a Ragusa (Dubrovnik), in «Rivista d'arte», XXIII, 1958, pp. 39-44;
K.Prijatei, Za poglavlie o manirizmu u likovnosti u Dubrovniku, XIII_XVI vek, II, Beograd 1952, pp. 209-210, 215-219, 221-222;
L.Biadi, Storia della città di Colle Val d'Elsa, Firenze 1859, p. 353;
S.Francolini, in Mostra di opere d'arte restaurate nelle Province di Siena e Grosseto, II, 1981, Genova 1981, pp. 171-175;
Archivio Salviati. Documenti sui beni immobiliari dei Salviati: palazzi, ville, feudi.Piante del territorio, a cura di E.Karwacka Codini e M.Sbrilli, Firenze 1987, p. 65;
L.Nobili, Il convento di Santa Maria Novella in Firenze, Milano 1994;
P.Assmann, Dominikanerheilige uns der verbotene Savonarola. Die Freskoausstattung des Chiostro Grande in Santa Maria Novella in Florenz, ein kulturelles Phänomen des späten Manierismus, Magonza-Monaco 1997;
A.Batistoni, È Simone Ferri il pittore dell'importante tela della pieve di Stia. La Cena in casa del fariseo, in «Corrispondenza», 35, 1998, p. 13;
A.Nesi, Simone da Poggibonsi nelle collezioni della Misericordia, in «San Sebastiano. Periodico della Misericordia di Firenze», 194, 1998, pp. 9-10;
L.Bencistà, Arte a Stia, in inserto, «Corrispondenza», 40, 2001, p. V;
L.Fornasari, Dipinti e disegni rintracciati. Corollario alla mostra il Seicento in Casentino, in «Bollettino d'informazione della Brigata Aretina Amici dei Monumenti», XXXV, 73, 2001, pp. 9-20;
A.Nesi, Appunti per un profilo di Simone Ferri da Poggibonsi, in «Prospettiva», 101, gennaio 2001, pp. 86-94; C.Cerretelli, Prato e la sua provincia, Prato 2003, p. 242;
Suor E.della Croce Schiavoncini, Il Portico tra poesia, arte e storia, Lucca 2003, pp. 106, 129, 120, fig. 1;
L.Fornasari, "Discorso intorno alle immagini sacre". La pittura controriformata nelle committenze delle compsagnie locali e religiose, in Arte in terra d'Arezzo il Cinquecento, Pisa 2004, p. 207;
D.Tassini, Moggiona, Poppi 2004, pp. 320-321; Badia a Pacchiana.Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta. Storia e Arte, a cura di O.Melani e R.Ciabattini, Ospedaletto (Pisa), novembre 2005, pp. 57-58.

The canonization in 1594 of Saint Hyacinth, the Polish Dominican monk Jacek Odrowąż, became an important event not only for the Catholic world, but also for the art world, giving artists the opportunity to develop new iconographic subjects. Jacek Odrowąż (1183-5, - 1257) or to use his Latinized form of the name, Hyacinth, was famous for his numerous miracles performed by him during his missionary work in Kiev and in the East. Coming from a noble Silesian family, Hyacinth received his theological education in Paris and Bologna. But the defining event in his life was the meeting with Saint Domenic in Rome in 1221. From the hands of the Domingo de Guzmán Garcés, he receives the Dominican habitat and immediately leaves for his homeland. On the way, to Friesach, he founds the first Dominican monastery in the German-speaking lands and eventually resides first in Krakow, and then, after visiting Moravia and Pomorie, he finds himself in Kiev.
At the same time, Tatar troops invaded Europe from the east, and in 1240 the Tatar army reached Kievan Rus. According to legend, after Mass, St. Jacek heard a woman's voice: "O Hyacinth my son, will you flee the hands of the Tartars and leave me and my son for them to break to pieces and trample?" Thus Virgin Mary called out to him from the statue. He tried to protest that the statue was far too heavy for him to carry, but Mary assured him that her son would reduce the weight. Thus, with the statue in one arm and the host in the other he escaped the chapel in time to save both - by means of a miraculous dry-shod run across the Dnieper River. Jacek is depicted with two attributes: a monstrance with the Holy Gifts and a statue of the Mother of God in his hands. (Acta Sanctorum, August vol. 3, 317).
But the most widespread in painting was another subject, namely the Vision of St. Hyacinth, which took place in Krakow on the eve of the Ascension. The Virgin Mary appeared then: "Hyacinth, my son, rejoice, for your prayers have been accepted and granted in the sight of my son, the Savior of all mankind. Whatever you ask in my name, I will obtain of him" (Acta Sanctorum, August vol. 3, 315, 340)
The attribution to Simone Ferri from Poggibonsi was suggested by Roberto Ciabattini in 2019

Wladyslaw MAXIMOWICZ

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