Vincenzo Mancuso

Vincenzo Mancuso (Italy, 1987) holds a doctorate in the history of modern art (Sorbonne University, EPHE), and was formerly in charge of studies and research at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art. His thesis focused on Carlo Maratti’s altar paintings, to which he has devoted several articles. His current research focuses on painting practices in Rome and Sicily, as part of the “Peindre dans les villes d’Europe Méridionale aux XVIIe et XVIIIe” program at the Université de Perpignan.

In residence at Villa Medici, Vincenzo Mancuso will develop a research project on “the painter’s craft and the practice of devotional painting in rome (1650-1700): an “arte senza tempo” or a “bottegaro” practice? Since its foundation (1563), the Accademia di San Luca has comprised two bodies of painters, “maggiori” and “minori”. The former were grouped together in the “congregazione dei pittori eletti” and the latter in a “compagnia”. According to the academy’s “statuti”, painters who belonged to the “congregazione” had to be capable of “working by themselves, without the drawings or models of others”. In this way, the academicians wished to distinguish themselves from painters, of whom there were many in Rome, who produced copies, often of devotional images, or portraits, which were sold retail to a wide public. Painters who produced small-scale devotional pictures for this lucrative market risked exclusion from the academic hierarchy. An emblematic case is that of Giovan Battista Salvi, known as Sassoferrato (1609-1685), author of a large number of high-quality devotional paintings. The serial nature of his production did not allow him to achieve institutional and critical recognition. By contrast, Carlo Maratti (1625-1713), also considered a “Madonnine” painter, was an acclaimed academician and several times director of the Accademia di San Luca. By bringing these artists together, this project examines devotional painting through the notions of “copy” and “replica” in 17th-century collecting and art literature.