Christ Between Saints Cosmas and Damian

Author: Klazina Botke

The tears and spatter marks that mar this drawing are not so severe as to detract from the soft, subtle modelling of the figures. The sheet is representative of Allori’s early drawing style, when he was clearly still following his teacher Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572) stylistically and technically. It is therefore not surprising that the work was formerly attributed to the latter.^[1] Because of the relationship to a painting in Brussels, first remarked upon by Heikamp, the work can now be given to Allori with certainty.^[2] The Brussels panel dates to around 1559-60, just after Allori’s return from Rome. The young artist stayed in that city several times between 1554 and 1559, perfecting his skills by, among other things, copying The Last Judgement by Michelangelo (1475-1564).^[3] His admiration for the master’s work is evident in the way he depicted Christ’s broad, muscular naked body. The Christ figure’s pose also bears some resemblance to Michelangelo’s sculpture of the risen Christ in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.    

The study in Rotterdam differs from the finished painting in Brussels on several points. First of all, the saints’ positions and attributes were slightly changed. In the painting, Allori opened the book held by the saint on the left to show the anatomical studies it contains.^[4] Christ’s loincloth was adjusted, as were the Arma Christi (instruments of the Passion), and the decorated, round capital. It is clear from these small but visible differences, along with some pentimenti, that the sheet is a preliminary study, not a ricordo or copy of the panel.

Lecchini Giovannoni and Costamagna suggested that the work in Brussels may have been commissioned by the Montauto family for a chapel in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome,^[5] but there is no direct evidence of this. The monumentality of the two saints is very reminiscent of the evangelists Allori painted at around the same time in the Montauto chapel in Santissima Annunziata in Florence.^[6] It is also perfectly possible, however, that the work was ordered by the Medici family, which embraced the Arab physicians Cosmas and Damian as patron saints.^[7]