The Story
Saint Dominic in Penitence by Filippo Tarchiani. Gift of Brian J. Brille, 2015
Created in 1612 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the religion & mythology tradition. Filippo Tarchiani worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Oil on canvas, measuring 52 x 43 in. (132.1 x 109.2 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Filippo Tarchiani builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
