06 works, Today, August 7th, is Saint Secundus' day, his story illustrated #219

Bernardo Strozzi, (1581–1644)

St Secundus and the Angel, circa 1615/1640

Oil on canvas

Height: 82 cm (32.2 in); Width: 101 cm (39.7 in)

Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included history, allegorical, genre and portrait paintings as well as still lifes. Born and initially mainly active in Genoa, he worked in Venice in the latter part of his career. His work exercised considerable influence on artistic developments in both cities. He is considered a principal founder of the Venetian Baroque style. His powerful art stands out by its rich and glowing colour and broad, energetic brushstrokes. More on Bernardo Strozzi

Secundus of Asti (died 119) is venerated as a martyr and saint. He was a historical figure who was beheaded at Asti under Hadrian. He is said to have been a patrician of Asti and a subaltern officer in the imperial army. It is known that a church was dedicated to him in the area as early as the 9th century.

Unknown artist from Kraków

St. Secundus crossing the Po River, c. 1467

Tempera on wood

Height: 103 cm (40.5 in); Width: 83.5 cm (32.8 in)

Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland

The first legend puts St. Secundus in the city of Asti, where as a young nobleman and officer in the Imperial Army, he rose up from paganism to Christianity through an encounter with the local bishop, Marcian.  As his conversion began to take deeper and deeper roots, he spent many hours ministering to prisoners in the local jails.  Wealthy and well-connected, St. Secundus’ behavior caught the attention of the authorities.  

Vincenzo Cavallero, (1765/1839)

Martyrium of San Secondo

Oil painting

San Secondo's Collegiata, Asti

Vincent Cavallaro (November 8, 1912, Cambridge, Massachusetts - May 22, 1985, New York City) was a painter, sculptor and abstract artist. He was a United States citizen, raised and educated in Italy.

He has been honored in the States with an award from the MoMA (War Poster, 1941), commissions from the National Gallery of Art ("Man in Space" program, 1968), and commissions to create many public and private murals and monuments individuals and institutions, including public schools in the New York City area (circa 1963 - 1975).

Cavallaro completed a year of formal studies in art in 1933 at Brera Academy in Milan. Under the Italian spelling of his first name, "Vincenzo," he enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army and served until 1946. His enlistment papers reflect that, among other things, he had one year of college and was working as a canvas cover repairman, animation artist, motion picture animation artist, model maker for motion pictures, and general artist. More on Vincent Cavallaro

The prefect of the city, Sapricius, was St. Secundus’ friend, and as opposed to bring him up on charges,for Rome was persecuting Christians at the time, he tried to convince St. Secundus to renounce his foolish behavior and embrace paganism, once again.  When he refused, this “friend,” had him beheaded by decree of the Emperor Hadrian.  This legend puts his death around 119.

Gandolfino d'Asti 

San Secondo d'Asti

Oil on canvas

Banca Carige Art Collection, Genoa

Gandolfino d'Asti (before 1493 – after 1518) was an Italian painter, who was active in Piedmont during the early Renaissance. He worked between Asti, Alessandria and Montferrat.

He was born at Asti and apprenticed under his father. His first documented work is and Assumption with Saints now at the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (1493). His style was influenced by that of Ligurian and Provençal artists Later he was also influenced by Milanese painters.

Works by his workshop in Asti include the Pelletta Polyptych in the Cathedral, and Adoration of the Magi in the Collegiata of San Secondo and Madonna Enthroned with Saints in church of Santa Maria Nuova. Outside his native city, he painted works such as the St. Peter's Polyptych in Savigliano and a Holy Parents in the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art. (c. 1503). More on Gandolfino d'Asti

Stefan Lochner, (circa 1400/1410–1451)

Saint Gereon of the Theban Legion and soldier companions, circa 1400-1410

 Epiphany altar, right wing inside

Oil on wood

Cologne Cathedral

Stefan Lochner (1410 – late 1451) was a German painter working in the late "soft style" of the International Gothic. His paintings combine that era's tendency toward long flowing lines and brilliant colours with the realism, virtuoso surface textures and innovative iconography of the early Northern Renaissance. Based in Cologne, Lochner was one of the most important German painters before Albrecht Dürer. 

Less is known of his life. Art historians associating the Dombild Master with the historical Stefan Lochner believe he was born in Meersburg in south-west Germany around 1410, and that he spent some of his apprenticeship in the Low Countries. Records further indicate that his career developed quickly but was cut short by an early death. Plague hit Cologne in 1451 and there, it is presumed he died that year, aged around 40. More on Stefan Lochner

The second legend locates St. Secundus among the ranks of the Theban Legion.  The Theban Legion was an entire Roman legion that is said to have converted to Christianity while based in Thebes, Egypt.  The legend places the number of men in the legion at 6,666.  These troops were summoned to serve the Empire in Gaul, and thus began moving as an army.  While at a lay-over in the city of Agaunum, Switzerland, the legion, joined by other garrisons and legions of the Imperial Army, was asked to celebrate by offering sacrifice to the emperor.  

El Greco, (1541–1614) 

The Martyrdom of St. Maurice an the Theban Legion, c. 1582

Oil on canvas

Height: 445 cm (14.5 ft); Width: 294 cm (115.7 in)

El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain

Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco; Spanish for "The Greek", was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. The nickname "El Greco" refers both to his Greek origin and Spanish citizenship. The artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters.

 

El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the center of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before traveling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.

 

El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting. More on El Greco

Needless to say, the invitation was refused.  Every man—all 6,666—stood strong against the pressures to offer sacrifice.  This began a man-by-man execution during which no one succumbed, and every man was martyred.  This account of the Theban Legion, however, occurred under the Emperor Maximian in 286. More on St. Secundus

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