Apparizione della Vergine a S. Simone Stock

Etching, c. 1749-50, from a subject by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Example from the first state of two, before the number 40 at upper left.

Lettered at bottom, in white margin, 'Joanes Bapt.a Tiepolo inveniens et pingens ... Domi.us Filius delineavit et incidit.'

The etching, depicting the handing over of the scapular to St. Simon Stock by the Virgin, comes from a canvas painted by John Baptist between the years 1740 and 1743 for the Scuola dei Carmini, in Venice. The inscription on the stone stele, though incomplete, allows the copper to be assigned to 1759 according to some (cf. Vesme, 1906, p. 408 n. 57; Rizzi, 1970, n. 95). However, Succi dates the etching to 1749-50.

“The magnificent etching represents one of the masterpieces of Giandomenico, who translated onto copper the grandiose central compartment of the cycle of the Scuola Grande dei Carmini in Venice, in which an angel is handing out a scapular that will help the living to be saved and the purging souls to reach peace (Gemin, Pedrocco 1993, no. 275). The date, partially visible-in the print-on the stone slab in the foreground, at the bottom, to be read not MDCCLIX (as Rizzi [1971, no. 98] and Russel [1972, no. 94] proposed), but MDC-CXLIX, according to Knox's insight (1976, no. 53), refers to the laborious and prolonged completion of the painting, while the etching was executed between 1749 and 1750. This is confirmed by the presence on the recto of the Tiepolo’s “Indice” with the description, "1 Altro sofitto dipinto in Chiesa della madona del Carmine con molte figure”. The work turns out to be mentioned by Zanetti (1771, p. 560) among the Stampe tratte da pitture di Giambattista Tiepolo: "È intagliato parimenti da esso Gian Domenico lo scompartimento maggiore del soffitto ch'è - nella Scuola del Carmine, con la B.V. in gloria su monte Carmelo”. In the first three editions of Giandomenico's Catalog the print appears at n. 40 with the title “B.V. del Carmelo, che da lo scapolare al B. Simon, coll'Anima del Purg.rio nella S.la del Carm. in Ven.”; in the last edition it is described at N. 34: “Soffitto della B.V del Carmine” (cf. D. Succi, La Serenissima nello specchio di rame, p. 537).

Simon Stock, at that time senior superior general of the Carmelite order, in a period that was anything but prosperous for the Order, addressed a heartfelt plea for help to Mary, who responded by giving him a "little habit" (the Scapular), a sign and pledge of her maternal protection: whoever wears it will not suffer eternal fire.

The apparition-July 16, 1251-is mentioned by some of the oldest texts of the order. Among them, , I Fioretti di Nostra Signora del Monte Carmelo, a text of Carmelite spirituality from around 1461, written by the Carmelite religious Nicola Calciuri.

Mount Carmel is a mountain range in Upper Galilee where the prophet Elijah gathered the first groups of believers to witness to the purity of faith in God and later Christian monastic communities were established. In time the hermits of Mount Carmel organized themselves into a full-fledged religious order formally recognized in 1226. In 1235 the Carmelites left the East because of Saracen raids and moved to Europe. Simon Stock (c. 1165 - May 16, 1265) was the prior of the order when on July 16, 1251, Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a scapular (a strip of cloth) explaining that those who died wearing it would avoid the punishments of Purgatory. Since then the Church has celebrated Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16.

Magnificent proof, impressed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed to copper, traces of glue and minimal abrasions on verso, otherwise in excellent condition.

Bibliografia

A. D. Vesme, Le peintre-graveur italien: ouvrage faisant suite au Peintre-graveur de Bartsch, Milano 1906, p. 408 n. 57; A. Rizzi, L'opera grafica dei Tiepolo. Le acqueforti, Milano 1971, p. 222 n. 98; D. Succi, La Serenissima nello specchio di rame, Splendore di una civiltà figurativa del Settecento, L’opera completa dei Grandi Maestri veneti, p. 537, n. 44 I/II.