Lot 32: Henry Ferguson , The Hague 1655-1730 France Saint Charles Borromeo Performing Charitable Acts in a Landscape with Ruins oil on canvas

oil on canvas

measurements note 51 3/16 by 76 in.; 130 by 193 cm.

Private collection, Lyon, around the mid-nineteenth century;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Sotheby's, June 27, 2002, lot 6.

Similar to many Dutch artists of his time, Henry Ferguson moved to various cities throughout his career in search of commercial success. Ferguson, who was probably the son of the still life painter William Gouw Ferguson (c.1622-c.1695) spent active time in the Netherlands, London, and ultimately Toulouse, where he would eventually work until his death in 1730. Prior to its sale in Paris in 2002, the present painting had been in a private Lyon collection for over a century, making it quite probable that it dates from Ferguson's productive final French period. It is likely that this composition was commissioned by the elegant French gentleman standing at the right center of the picture, who passes alms to the unfortunate surrounding him. Saint Charles Borromeo, depicted in his cardinal's robe, is gesturing towards the bas-relief depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds, suggesting that a direct, moral and philosophical link exists between the contemporary church of Borromeo's time and the biblical foundations of Christ's. Ferguson's depiction of a Christian scene carved onto an Antique Roman sarcophagus, topped by a marble river god holding an orb with crucifix (a personification of the Tiber), is yet another attempt to link the Borromeo's contemporary Catholic Church with a revered past: the grand, steadfast, and powerful age of Roman antiquity. Upon being called to Rome and being made a Cardinal by his uncle, Pope Pius IV, Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) developed into one of the chief leaders of the Counter-Reformation. He would later be appointed Archbishop of Milan during which time he promoted a virtuous and altruistic lifestyle. Through his charity and care for the needy, he sought to promote Christian values and the validity of Christ's influence on Earth. Most notably, during the plague of 1576, he devoted his entire time and wealth to care for the sick. The monumental antique sarcophagus, the red terra-cotta urns on top, and the Poussinesque figures are very typical of Ferguson's style. The composition shows close similarities with a painting kept in the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi.υ1 The child, turned towards the wall, raising his hands towards the donor, is derived from Raphael's fresco The Fire of Borgo of 1516/17 in the Vatican Palace. 1. M. Eidelberg, "Landskips...Dark and Gloomy". Reintroducing Henry Ferguson, in Apollo, September 2000, p. 30, reproduced, figure 5.