the conjuration of the storm

This conjuration of the storm depicts a subject on the boundary between natural magic and Christian exorcism — the attempt to control violent weather through ritual. Such practices, condemned by church authorities but persistently maintained in popular culture, gave Magnasco a subject combining his interest in extreme weather and extreme religious behavior with a note of social documentation. The gesture of commanding or imploring nature was both a specific ritual practice and a broader emblem of human hubris in the face of natural power, themes that resonated throughout Magnasco's career with his characteristic combination of religious subject matter and dramatic landscape.

The storm is rendered with Magnasco's characteristically turbulent brushwork, the dark, swirling atmosphere achieved through rapid, agitated strokes that seem to embody the elemental forces being invoked.