St Philip - Oil on canvas, c.1743 by Batoni, Pompeo Girolamo (1708-87) Collection of Basildon Park, W. Berkshire UK
Pompeo Batoni was born in Lucca, Italy, the son of a distinguished goldsmith. From about 1740 Batoni had an established reputation as the leading portraitist in Rome of visitors from abroad, especially English aristocrats on the Grand Tour. This oil painting of St Philip the apostle and martyr belongs to a group of pictures now in the Basildon Park, Berkshire Collection that comes from a set of twelve images of God the Father and the Apostles. The series was originally painted for the town palace of Count Cesare and Fra Giuseppe Merenda in Forlí, Italy, who were Batoni’s most dedicated patrons.
St Philip bears a Latin cross on his right arm, his usual attribute of martyrdom. According to tradition, he used the power of the cross to banish a serpent that had become the object of cult worship in the Temple of Ares, located at classical Phrygia. The saint had ventured to south-western Anatolia to carry the Gospel to the pagan inhabitants. On being seized by the priests of that cult, Philip was crucified upside down in the ancient town of Hierapolis. Philip intently gazes toward heaven from which divine light emanates to illuminate his face. His verdant green robe is a further symbol of his triumph of life over death. Philip was a fisherman, thus the rope, apart from its reference to the nature of his martyrdom, also recalls his trade when Christ called him to discipleship.
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