01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - Ermanno Stroiffi's Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, With Footnotes - #136

Ermanno Stroiffi (Padoue 1616-1693 Venise)

Elie ressuscite le fils de la veuve de Sarepta/ Elijah and the widow of Zarephath

Oil on canvas

100 x 147cm (39 3/8 x 57 7/8in)

Private collection

Estimated for €8,000 - €12,000 in November 2022 

The Bible states that Elijah is a Tishbite from Gilead, who visited King Ahab to give him a message from God that there would be no rain in the land until he declared it. In order to avoid the wrath of the king, God told Elijah to hide by the Brook Cherith where he was fed bread and meat by ravens sent from God.

After a while, due to the drought, the brook dried up so God told Elijah to go to the town of Sarepta and to seek out a widow that would find him water and food. Elijah learns that the widow has a son and between them they only have enough flour and oil for one more meal before they die. Despite this, the widow helps Elijah. Because she did this God caused the flour and the oil never to run out. 

After this the son of the woman became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin and remembrance and to cause the death of my son!"

Elijah does not try and rationalise with the grieving woman and takes the son up to his bedroom where he prays to God asking for his help.

Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again". And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

He then takes the child downstairs again and presents him, living, to his mother. This causes her to declare "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God", Elijah therefore "regains his honor and his status." More on Elijah and the widow of Zarephath

Ermanno Stroiffi (Padua, 20 October 1616 – Venice, 4 July 1693) was an Italian Baroque painter and priest. A pupil of prominent Venetian painter Bernardo Strozzi, he created altarpieces, portraits and genre scenes. Stroiffi became a priest in 1647 and in that role he helped to introduce the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Padua and Venice

Not much is known about the artist's training. It is known he became an assistant in the workshop of Bernardo Strozzi. Strozzi was the leading painter in Venice in the first half of the 17th century and also a Capuchin monk. Stroiffi was Strozzi's favorite assistant and worked on many of the large commissions which Strozzi received. Stroiffi was also a beneficiary of Strozzi's will.

Between 1645 and 1654 when he was still at the start of his career, Stroiffi travelled to various cities in central northern Italy. One of the cities was Mantua, the historic power base of the Gonzaga family, which was an important patron of the arts. He received commissions from the Ducal court. 

Stroiffi became a priest in 1647. He played an important role in the establishment of the Congregation of the Oratory in Padua and Venice. More on Ermanno Stroiffi 

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