Christ Served by the Angels in the Wilderness
Jacques Stella, Christ Served by the Angels in the Wilderness, 1635/1640, oil on canvas, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Bequest of Marybeth Branaman and Georgia Stoetzel Branaman, public domain, 2002.6
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Christ Served by the Angels in the Wilderness
- Artist
- Date
1635/1640
- Period
High Baroque (ca. 1625-late 17th century)
- Medium
oil on canvas
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
34 in x 45 1/2 in
- Collection Area
European Art
- Category
Paintings
- Object Type
painting
- Culture
French
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Bequest of Marybeth Branaman and Georgia Stoetzel Branaman
- Accession Number
2002.6
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Using delicate brushwork and a shimmering palette of colors, Stella makes the viewer feel the relief and delight of the moment when the angels bring food to Christ, who had resisted the temptations of the Devil during a forty-day fast in the desert (Matthew 4:1–11). The natural grace of Stella's style is demonstrated in the figure of the airborne angel scattering flowers over the famished Christ's meal.
In Rome, Stella formed a lifelong friendship with his influential compatriot, Nicholas Poussin. The friezelike arrangement of the figures in this composition demonstrates the two artists' shared admiration for classical antiquity. Stella made this work shortly after he arrived in Paris to be painter to the most powerful man in France, Cardinal Richelieu.
- Exhibitions
2003 The Triumph of French Painting: 17th Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME Portland Art Museum; Birmingham Museum of Art; Meadows Museum
2015 Paradise: Fallen Fruit Portland Art Museum
