Der Heilige Costanzo di Ancona vor dem Altar kniend 

Curator: This ink drawing is entitled "Der Heilige Costanzo di Ancona vor dem Altar kniend" and it comes to us from Gaspare Diziani. The artwork, held here at the Städel Museum, beautifully captures a Baroque sensibility. Editor: Wow, my immediate impression is one of ascending reverence. The composition guides your eye upward, from the kneeling figure to those cherubic angels hovering above. It's quite beautiful, if a tad theatrical, like a divine opera. Curator: Indeed. Diziani emphasizes Costanzo's humility through his pose before the altar. It also sets the stage, so to speak, within a wider narrative of faith. Remember, the baroque as an aesthetic was enmeshed within the institutional authority of the church, which certainly played a large part in Diziani's time. Editor: The church certainly loved its drama! The light in this piece is interesting, too—or the suggestion of light. The washes create a really ephemeral feel; makes me feel like those cherubs are pure imagination and that he might just be having a moment, praying very intensely. I find the angels at the top a little too chubby and cherubic! Like characters from a child’s dream! Curator: Ha! But they're of their time, for sure. Such visualizations played a part in reinforcing faith at the time. That said, Diziani was working for elite clientele in Venice who very much enjoyed such imagery. It makes one wonder what his "religious" drawings actually represented. Editor: Always money! Looking again, I find that my eye is strangely drawn to that ladder in the middle. Maybe they forgot to edit that part out before the Holy Saint started praying to the angels. Curator: Perhaps Diziani intended it? Consider how elements of architecture like that can serve as compositional tools that underscore a painting's internal dynamics or spatial depth, guiding our gaze. Editor: All this talk of composition makes my artistic brain work! I now see the geometry between his hands, the lamp, and those fluffy clouds and bodies. It all really comes together... a story, expertly, even emotionally, delivered. I might believe this Saint now. Curator: A happy consequence if unintended, I wager! Thanks for taking this look, and giving us new avenues for considering this work. Editor: My pleasure. It's all about that light, that movement! Makes you think about how faith gets created on paper and stone… Makes me wonder if that's the whole point in the first place.