Crivelli and Crivelleschi | Itinerario

Carlo Crivelli, who was born in Venice, on a yet, unspecified date, between 1430 and 1435, was regarded, by the art historian Luigi Lanzi, as a painter "of great value among the Old Masters". After a period of stay in Zadar, in Dalmatia, tied to his estrangement from his hometown following his imprisonment in 1457, for kidnapping and concealing as a concubine Tarsia, wife of Francesco Cortese, a Venetian sailor, he lived and worked between 1468 and 1471 in the Fermo territory, then moved to Ascoli Piceno. He first showed his refined style through the most impressive altarpiece with predella and three points commissioned by Count Azzolino of Fermo for the parish church of SS. Lorenzo, Silvestro and Ruffino of Massa Fermana. Despite the apparent veneto-padovano figurative culture transmitted by Giorgio Schiavone apparent between 1457 and 1460, Carlo Crivelli demonstrated not only a strong stylistic personality, but also considerable communicative skills. Admirable, is the meticulous attention to detail, evident especially in the soft drapes, the textile decorations or in the ornamental designs. Bathed by a warm glow, the accessories with silver inserts, the brocades with golden work of oriental manufacturing, the superb drapes, embroidered with stars and roses with partly opened corollas, all seem to accentuate the troubled expressions of pale sacred faces. The language of the gaze, together with the measured corporal expression, are easily understandable and communicative, while arousing curiosity and sometimes some difficulties in interpretating the thick symbolic code present in Crivelli’s paintings.

Ever-present are the cross-references to the sacrifice and the Passion of Christ, constantly represented by grape wreaths, carnations, cherries and violet coloured plums. Many are also the distictive features of the Virgin, like the rose and the lily, commonly associated with her purity or the violet, a symbol of humility of Mary who did not oppose the will of the most High, but said: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be onto me according to your Word". Not infrequently, the Madonna is accompanied also by the palm that in the ‘Cantico dei Cantici’ is associated to spiritual greatness: "Your stature resembles a Palm and thy breasts grape clusters". There are even references to sin and evil, which are present under the form of apples, cucumbers or flies. Crivelli's works reveal his basic antiquarian culture, acquired in stimulating padovan environment and mainly in Squarcione’s workshop, but they are constantly symptomatic also of a sophisticated and innovative genius, who fully reflects the tastes and the expectations of the commisssioners from the Fermo area. For this reason, works by artists such as Vittore Crivelli, Pietro Alamanno and Stefano Folchetti, who followed in the footsteps of the Venetian master and who worked extensively in the area of Fermo, where they obtained prestigious positions thanks to the economic development of the second half of the 15th century, also gained great fortune. Even nowadays, the works of Crivelli and the Crivelleschi, preserved in churches, galleries or parish museums within the territory, which stretches from Sant'Elpidio a Mare to Cupra Marittima and from Fermo to Montefortino, continue to exert the same charm of long ago.