Wax painting on slate, 'The Infant Christ Asleep, Adored by Two Angels', Agostino Cornacchini, 1727

The Christ Child with a halo of golden rays, lays asleep on a piece of blue drapery with an elaborate red and gold tasseled pillow below his head, while two winged angels look on

Given by Molini

Given by Molini, 1859
This bequest may have been made by Giuseppe Molini (1772-1856), a Florentine knight, bookseller, printer, publisher, bibliographer and librarian, active in the late 18th and early 19th century. Clients of Molini’s Bookshop in Florence describe Molini as having “an open strongly-marked countenance”, a “rare intelligence”, and an willingness to share his bibliographical knowledge with any inquirer. The bookshop was located on the Via degli Archibusieri, near the Ponte Vecchio. Molini’s Bookshop is known to have stocked a good selection of material in both English and Italian. His prosperous shop focused not only on the active tourist trade but also sold books to dignitaries and royal courts all over Europe. In addition to his retail establishment, Molini was the proprietor of All’insegna de Dante (Dante’s Head Press) and Presso G. Molini, located at no. 823 Piazza di St. Maria in Campo. His publishing corpus includes numerous books ranging in scope from a history of Italy to a biography of the Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini. Molini closed his bookshop when he was appointed director of the Biblioteca Palatina which maintained the important book and manuscript collections of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Molini held this position until his death in 1856.

Historical significance: Agostino Cornacchini (1686-1754) was an Italian sculptor, draughtsman and painter. He moved from Pescia to Florence in 1697, entering the workshop of Giovanni Battista Foggini, principal sculptor to Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1709 he produced drawings of Italy’s most famous monuments for the English antiquarian John Talman, and in the following year a marble statue of Clement XI (Urbino Cathedral). He arrived in Rome in 1712 to live in the household of his uncle, Cardinal Carlo Agostino Fabbroni, who also provided him with a studio and an income.

This appears to be the only known painting by Cornacchini who worked primarily as a draughtsman and sculptor in stucco (studies for which are in the V&A collection) and marble. Cornacchini was clearly proud of his revival of the technique of classical encaustic painting (painting in warm coloured wax) and claimed to have invented a new technique in his inscription on the back of this work, by using wax 'in piano' or working 'on the flat' in contrast to wax reliefs. The difficulties of the technique account in part for the somewhat unsatisfactory appearance of the painting which lacks the three-dimensional appearance and high level of finish of his drawings and also explains the rarity of this type of work in Cornacchini's oeuvre. This appears to be an early example of a the revival of an ancient technique which became increasingly popular in the later 18th century.

The main use of wax in painting, has been in encaustic painting, in which dry pigments are mixed with molten wax on a heated metal palette, then applied to a support; a heat source is then passed close to the surface to ‘burn in’ the colours by fusing them to the support. Encaustic painting was widely used in the ancient world and described by Pliny the elder, Vitruvius and Plutarch; attempts were made to revive the technique in Europe in the 18th century. There is, however, considerable debate concerning the media and processes originally used and whether a number of painting methods involving wax can be described as encaustic: wax can be dissolved in turpentine and is made water-soluble by the addition of alkali and thus can be combined with a wide variety of paints.
Slate however was only used as a support on rare occasions by 16th- and 18th-century artists such as Sebastiano del Piombo and Rubens.

Agostino Cornacchini (1686-1754) was an Italian sculptor, draughtsman and painter. He entered the Florentine workshop of Giovanni Battista Foggini, principal sculptor to Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1697. In 1709 he produced drawings of Italy’s most famous monuments for the English antiquarian John Talman, and in the following year a marble statue of Clement XI (Urbino Cathedral). He arrived in Rome in 1712 to live in the household of his uncle, Cardinal Carlo Agostino Fabbroni, who also provided him with a studio and an income.
This wax painting of the sleeping Christ Child (identified by his halo of golden rays) adored by two angels, is the only known painting by Cornacchini, an artist who worked primarily as a draughtsman and sculptor in stucco (studies for which are in the V&A collection) and marble. Cornacchini was clearly proud of his revival of the technique of classical encaustic painting (painting in warm coloured wax) and claimed to have invented a new technique in his inscription on the back of this work, by using wax 'in piano' or working 'on the flat' in contrast to wax reliefs. The difficulties of the technique account in part for the somewhat unsatisfactory appearance of the painting which lacks the three-dimensional appearance and high level of finish of his drawings and also explains the rarity of this type of work in Cornacchini's oeuvre. This appears to be an early example of a the revival of an ancient technique which became increasingly popular in the later 18th century.

5456-1859