St. Roch

Maker Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696-1770)

Additional Title(s)

Saint Roch

Collections

European Painting Highlights

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Datec. 1730-35

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions17 3/4 x 13 1/4 in. (45.1 x 33.7 cm.)

DescriptionThis painting portrays Saint Roch as a pilgrim resting his head and shoulder against a wall and holding a piece of bread in his right hand and his staff in the left hand.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextAn exhausted, haggard Saint Roch slumps before a wall in this small, moving image by Tiepolo. Saint Roch was a wealthy Frenchman who tended victims of the plague in Italy, and eventually fell victim to the disease. The dog, shown in the lower right, cured him by bringing him bread and licking his wounds. Tiepolo accentuates the saint’s suffering by pushing the figure toward the front of the picture. Unable even to hold up his head, he gazes out through barely open eyes, a crust of bread held limply in his fingers. Tiepolo painted a series of images of Saint Roch, all about this size, for members of the confraternity of the church of San Rocco in Venice.

Object number9.7