01 Work, Interpretation of the bible, Federico Ferrario's Mary and St. Peter Consoling Each Other, with Footnotes #188

Attributed to Federico Ferrario (1714-1802)

Mary and St. Peter Consoling Each Other

Oil on canvas

88 x 113 cm

Private collection

The episode of the painting refers to the triple denial in which St. Peter, according to the canonical Gospels, three times rejected the accusations of being a follower of Jesus. After this denial, the synoptic gospels report the repentance of Peter, often depicted while crying, but in our canvas, he is in the presence of the Madonna. Between the two there is a silent dialogue highlighted above all by the gestures of Peter's hand. In the other hand he holds his iconographic attributes: the keys and a sheet depicting the cross of the Passion of Christ. His face is marked with deep wrinkles. Mary appears visibly by the Apostle's repentance, who listens to him composed with her hands intertwined and leaning her arm on a blue and gold cushion. The classic evidence of the pictorial work, the elegance and delicacy of the details as well as the execution, convey a sincere and intensely personal religious feeling. 

Federico Ferrario ( Milan , 1714 - Milan , March 27, 1802 ) was an Italian painter. Probably Milanese by birth, studied in the workshop of the painter Pietro Maggi , more inclined to fresco than to painting on an easel. It appears that he was perhaps married to a relative of his teacher: Margherita Maggi.

In order to have greater employment opportunities, the artist, in addition to having worked in Milan with the frescoes for the church of Sant'Alessandro , moved away and moved to many areas of Lombardy . Many of his works are preserved in the cities of Pavia, Monza, Sacro Monte di Orta, Cremona, Piacenza, but above all in the Bergamo area, where in the eighteenth century there was a great modernization work of neoclassical style buildings with the need for new decorations, there was therefore the possibility of finding many commissions. It was the years after 1760 that his presence in Bergamo intensified, where he worked with the quadraturist Bernardo Brignoli for many of his works.

Despite having learned at the Maggi school with descent from the Milanese school thanks to his collaboration with other artists and with the studies of the cathedral of Monza he was able to obtain a freer style without ever reaching the Rococo style, always remaining conservative traits. The years spent in Bergamo brought him closer to the art of Vincenzo Angelo Orelli and to Venetian art, which can be seen in the works that followed the early years.

In 1790 he was appointed director of the Accademia Ambrosiana , with Gian Antonio Cucchi, and Antonio De Giorgi, where it appears that he signed requests for subsidies for the academy itself. From that date it seems that he did not make more paintings. He died in his house in Milan. More on Federico Ferrario

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