Saint Roch Carried to Heaven by Angels
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo·c. 1735/1745
Historical Context
Saint Roch Carried to Heaven by Angels, painted around 1735-1745 and now in the National Gallery of Art, depicts the plague saint's triumphant ascension — a subject of particular importance in Venice, which had been repeatedly devastated by plague. Saint Roch (San Rocco) was one of Venice's most venerated protectors, with a grand confraternity (Scuola Grande di San Rocco) and numerous church dedications. Tiepolo renders the celestial transport with his characteristic mastery of airborne figures, the saint borne upward by angels through luminous clouds. The painting demonstrates Tiepolo's ability to create convincing celestial visions that combine spiritual grandeur with the physical weight and presence of real bodies.
Technical Analysis
The upward-sweeping composition anticipates Tiepolo's great ceiling frescoes, with angels bearing the saint into golden, luminous space. The figure of Roch is foreshortened as if seen from below, and the palette achieves the radiant clarity of Tiepolo's mature style.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the angels supporting clouds or bearing divine symbols — they serve as both decorative accents and narrative agents connecting the earthly and heavenly realms.
Provenance
(Thomas Humphrey Ward [1845-1926], London).[1] (Kleinberger Galleries, New York), by 1932.[2] (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 3 December 1942, no. 34); purchased by Victor Bacchi.[3] Howard Sturges [d. 1955], Providence, Rhode Island; bequest 1956 to NGA. [1] "[F]rom the collection of Mr. Humphrey Ward," according to handwritten notes by W. R. Valentiner, dated May 1932, on the back of an old photograph (NGA curatorial files). The painting does not appear in any of the sales at Christie, Manson and Woods, London, which, according to Lugt, included paintings owned by Ward (20 June 1913, Lugt 72986; 28 February 1919, Lugt 78563; 14 March 1919, Lugt 78618; 19 November 1920, Lugt 81216). Ward's name does not appear on the catalogues. Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index reported that Ward was a sometime dealer who sold to Agnew's at the turn of the century and to the National Gallery, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (letter of 15 March 1993, NGA curatorial files). [2] According to the College Art Association exhibition catalogue of 1932 and the Springfield Museum catalogue of 1933. [3] According to a marginal notation in the copy of the catalogue held by the Frick Art Reference Library. The sale included works from several collections and the catalogue does not list the sellers of individual lots.
