Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; 17th century.
"Saint Bruno".
Oil on onyx.
It presents breakage and restorations.
It has faults in the frame.
Measurements: 28 x 22 cm; 39 x 32 cm (frame).
In this work we see St. Bruno dressed as a Carthusian monk, with his austere white habit and the crucifix in his hand, object of meditation of those who adopt the contemplative life. He kneels on the ground in a landscape in which onyx plays a prominent role as part of the pictorial composition. Formally, this work is dominated by the influence of Italian Baroque aesthetics, which can be seen in the rhetoric of the gestures, theatrical and eloquent, clearly Baroque, typical of 17th-century Italian classicism. It is also important to note the importance of the chromatic aspect, which is very well thought out, toned and balanced, centred on basic shades of white and ochre.
Bruno of Cologne (c. 1030-1101) was a German monk and founder of the contemplative religious order of the Carthusians. During his youth he was a canon in Cologne, and studied secular and theological letters. He later went to Rheims in France to study theology and became a professor in 1057. There he became director of teaching, and among his students was Eudes of Chatillon, the future Pope Urban II. He then opted for the life of a hermit, under the guidance of Robert of Molesmes. Bishop Hugh of Grenoble gave him the mountainous area of the Charterhouse, where he built an oratory surrounded by cells, which would give rise to the Carthusian order in 1084. Recalled to Rome some time later, he helped in the reform of Urban II. However, he preferred the contemplative life, so he returned to solitude, resigning the archbishopric of Reggio. He then retired to the Carthusian monastery of La Torre in Calabria, where he lived in solitude with a few laymen and clerics, where he died and was buried. Bruno of Cologne was not canonised, although the Carthusians were allowed to worship him, as they shunned all public manifestations. However, in 1514 they obtained permission from Pope Leo X to celebrate the feast of their founder, and Clement X extended it to the whole Church in 1674. The saint is particularly popular in Calabria, and the cult that is paid to him reflects to some extent the dual active and contemplative aspects of his life. As for his iconography, Saint Bruno usually wears a star on his chest, alluding to Bishop Hugo's vision of a star that announced the saint's arrival in Grenoble. Another of his iconographic symbols is the olive branch, a symbol of holiness and prosperity, and he is also often accompanied by a skull on a book, as seen here. A mita and a crozier at his feet are signs of the ecclesiastical power he renounced (the archbishopric of Reggio). The hourglass, a symbol of the transience of life, can also be associated with his representation.