Schrijvende heilige Johannes op de wolken 1522 - 1583

Bernardino Lanino made this red chalk drawing of Saint John the Evangelist sometime in the mid-16th century. He’s shown writing on a cloud accompanied by cherubs, a familiar iconography of divine inspiration. Lanino was active in Lombardy, Northern Italy, during a period of intense religious upheaval. The Protestant Reformation was gathering pace and the Catholic Church was responding through the Counter-Reformation. We can see a clue as to the cultural work this image may have performed by considering the institutions with which Lanino was associated. He produced many works for churches and other religious organisations, and like many artists of the time, ran a busy workshop. This drawing may have been a preparatory study for a larger altarpiece, with the artist working out the composition in advance. The Catholic Church encouraged the production of devotional images during this period to counter Protestantism. Art historians piece together the social and cultural context of artworks like this through archival research and a close understanding of the institutions that commissioned them.