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Pietro (Pier) Dandini
Florence, 1646 - 1712
This witchcraft scene painted by Pier Dandini appears to be partly inspired by the character Isman from Jerusalem Delivered. However, this is not a literal illustration of Tasso’s poem, but rather a free evocation of the beginning of Canto XIΙΙ, where the terrible necromancer enchants the sinister forest near Jerusalem so that the crusaders cannot exploit its wood to build their siege machines.
The painting, of notable chromatic richness, illustrates an episode full of complex symbolism and profound esoteric meanings, often difficult to read iconographically.
One of the most interesting and evocative works of Florentine painting in the late Baroque age, the canvas reveals particular stylistic characteristics and chromatic qualities that confirm with certainty the autography of Pier Dandini.
The forest of Saron enchanted by the sorcerer Isman and populated with demons
Oil on canvas, 96 x 79 cm
Provenance
Florence, Giovanni Pratesi, 1997
Exhibitions
Turin, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, Il male: Esercizi di pittura crudele, 26 February - 26 June 2005
Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi, “I colori più vivi e le più morbide forme”. La Scultura in cera da Francesco I a Cosimo III de’ Medici, 2025 (requested loan)
Bibliography
S. Bellesi, Diavolerie, magie e incantesimi nella pittura barocca Fiorentina, Florence 1997, pp. 65-69, no. 5
P. Morel, La figure de la magicienne de l’Orlando Furioso à l’art florentin entre Cinquecento et Seicento, in L’arme e gli amori: Ariosto, Tasso and Guarini in late Renaissance Florence, Florence 2004, vol. II, pp. 323–24
V. Sgarbi, Il male: Esercizi di pittura crudele, exhibition catalogue, Turin 2005, pp. 144-145, 331, no. 83
S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei pittori fiorentini del ’600 e ‘700. Biografie e opere, Florence 2009, vol. I, p. 125, vol. II, p. 208, no. 440
A. Iafrate, “Il demone nell’ampolla”: Solomon, Virgil, Aeolus, and the Long Metamorphosis of Rain Rituals and Wind-Taming Practices, in “Revue de l’histoire des religions”, 3, 2017, p. 393
In the foreground, in the centre of the reddish-toned dirt ground, a very thin ash-coloured arched line is visible, alluding to the magic circle. Traced with charcoal dust, during occult ceremonies it provided a protective space during the invocation of the devil. The wizard Isman here summons demons, who rise from heaven and earth as terrifying as they are fearful.
The pyramid and the Masonic inscription engraved on a stone are a free adaptation of verse 38 of the Jerusalem Delivered, in which Tancred discovers a cypress in the forest in the shape of a tall pyramid, whose trunk is covered in hieroglyphs. The pyramid and the obelisk are also connected to the taste for exoticism deeply rooted in the world of ancient Egypt, which developed in Italy in the mid-seventeenth century and is very evident in painting of the time such as the fresco with the Allegory of the Continents by Pier Dandini himself in Palazzo Guicciardini Corsi Salviati in Florence, where appear a pyramid in ruins, an obelisk abandoned on the ground and some tomb desecrators in the act of stealing a mummy from a sarcophagus.
Isman is presented dressed only in a lapis lazuli coloured cloth with a hood of the same colour. With his left hand the magician holds a wand to invoke the forces of evil and with his right he leans on a skeleton with vital eyes, semi-reclining on a rocky shelf, showing us a magical scroll in which some esoteric symbols appear. Other demons are represented near the necromancer and the skeleton, one of which has the appearance of a reptile, often indicating, due to their reproductive fertility, libido and lust.
The two acolytes, depicted on the right of the painting, could recall the other two sorceresses with whom Isman is in company. At the end of the lower margin appears a kneeling man with a traveller’s cape over his shoulders, embroidered in gold with a shell and a cross, in the act of holding the pilgrimage stick with his right hand. As usual during satanic rites, hagiographic symbols are denigrated (in this case the stick is connected to the iconographic tradition of saints Alessio, Jacopo and Rocco), also via the playing cards, symbol of superstition rather than faith, in the man’s coat pocket. The monster with the spotted coat, lying captiously on the man’s back, probably suggests deception and the dangers hidden in the shadows. With his left hand he holds some nails, symbols of the Passion of Christ, also used in this case to ridicule the Christian cult. Behind this image, in light shade, is the other sorcerer, with a turquoise headdress, a torch and a wand, riding a green and red demon similar to a dragon.
The fourth human figure, with a more feminine appearance, is naked, with blindfolded eyes and chained hands is right in the centre of the painting. It could certainly be a future victim of some sacrifice, but also a reference to the souls imprisoned in these places, like Clorinda, who appears to Tancredi through a magical illusion (XIII, 43). A small altar surrounded by the iron chain that keeps her imprisoned is visible next to her. Some magical accessories are depicted on top of it: a heart pierced by a nail and a small demon enclosed in a lamp (fig. 1). Furthermore, at the base of the altar appear many objects connected to magical rites, including a dice and a mortar, used for the preparation of mixtures of magical herbs for potions or filters.
In the nocturnal landscape background of the painting, we have a skeleton and trees traditionally connected to the theme of death. In the uniformly dark sky, illuminated only by the faint light of the crescent moon, the silhouettes of some demons float, alternating pseudo-anthropomorphic forms with those of fantastic animals with features similar to horse, ibises and bats.
In the wake of the works of Salvator Rosa, and in response to a change in the way in which contemporaries looked at the phenomenon of necromancy, over time these images took on an increasingly hysterical and hallucinatory tone even among Florentine painters, very different from the more discreet ones, seductive and intimate illusions offered by Furini or Cesare Dandini. Essential points of reference for the creation of this canvas appear to be the paintings executed by Salvator Rosa during his stay in Florence. Direct references to the language of the Neapolitan artist are highlighted in the predilection for twilight atmospheric backgrounds and in the choice of the theme frequently connected to witchcraft scenes and demonic figurations. Surprising in this regard is the formulation of some evil spirits hovering in the sky, perfectly compliant with almost similar images proposed by Rosa in compositions such as the canvas with the Temptations of Sant’Antonio Abate in the Palatine Gallery of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, created around to 1645 for Cardinal Giovan Carlo de Medici and with The Witch, recently purchased by the Uffizi, from which Dandini seems to take the parchment with the magical symbols.
A full fact sheet is available on request.