A follower of Bartolomeo Schedoni

Follower of BARTOLOMEO SCHEDONI (Formigine, 1578 – Parma, 1615).
“The Almsgiving of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.”
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 41 x 31 cm; 54 x 46 cm (frame).
This painting reproduces one of the artist’s most cherished subjects: The Alms of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, housed in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. The repetition of this composition, intended to meet demand, confirms the significance achieved by this image, in which Schedoni attained a perfect balance between the spiritual intensity of the early Baroque and the expressive delicacy characteristic of the Emilian school. According to the studies by historian Francesca Dallasta on Bartolomeo Schedoni, the work dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary may have been part of a cycle dedicated to Parma’s charitable institutions, promoted and partially funded by Duke Ranuccio Farnese, thus highlighting the fame of the subject.

The scene depicts the secret charity of Elizabeth of Hungary, who, defying her husband’s opposition, would leave her courtly life at night to distribute bread among the city’s poor and sick. Hidden beneath a turban covering her hair, the saint embodies the ideals of humility, compassion, and devotion to those most in need. When she was discovered by her husband and forced to reveal the contents of her cloak, the bread she was carrying miraculously turned into roses, confirming the divine nature of her act of mercy.
Bartolomeo Schedoni (Formigine, 1578 – Parma, 1615) was one of the most prominent painters of the early Italian Baroque. Trained in Rome under Federico Zuccaro and associated with the courts of the Farnese and Este families, he developed a personal style influenced by Correggio, Parmigianino, and the innovations of the Carracci.