Aureliano Milani

AURELIANO MILANI (Bologna, 1675 - Rome, 1749)
"St. Peter penitent".
Oil on canvas. Relined in the nineteenth century.
Presents faults.
It has a frame of c, 1830.
Measurements: 74.5 x 58.5 cm; 95 x 76 cm (frame).
This canvas of penitent St. Peter is a particularly eloquent example of the artistic maturity of Aureliano Milani and his firm adherence to the classicist tradition of the Bolognese school. The figure of the apostle, represented in a moment of introspection and repentance after the denial of Christ, imposes himself on the viewer through a powerful physical and psychological presence, achieved through a masterful use of chiaroscuro and a dense, warm and modulated brushstroke with remarkable sensitivity.
Milani demonstrates here an absolute technical mastery: the aged flesh of the saint, furrowed with wrinkles and tinged with subtle glazes, reveals a direct observation of reality, while the gray beard and the folds of the cloak are resolved with a sure, ample and expressive execution. The light, directed and concentrated, not only models the volume of the body, but also acts as a narrative element, underlining the inner drama of the character and elevating the scene to a contained spiritual dimension, far removed from the more theatrical baroque effect.
The theme, deeply rooted in the Counter-Reformation iconography, finds in Milani a sober and serious interpretation, faithful to the Carraccian ideal of balance between natural truth and classical nobility. In contrast to the rococo and elegant classicism cultivated by some of his Bolognese contemporaries, the painter opts here for an image of intense humanity, where repentance is expressed more by the raised gaze and intertwined hands than by emphatic gestures.
Milani trained with Giulio Cesare Milani, Lorenzo Pasinelli and Cesare Gennari, and decisively assimilated the influence of the Carracci, fully integrating himself into the Bolognese classicism of the 17th century. In contrast to the rococo turn of his contemporaries, he maintained a more severe classicism, exemplified in Eneas and Turno. From 1719 he worked in Rome, where he made numerous altarpieces. In his maturity he developed a marked realistic vein, visible both in genre scenes and religious works. His profane decorations also stand out, such as the gallery of Hercules in the Palazzo Doria Pamphili, and his little known but solid work as a draughtsman, heir to the Carraccesque tradition.