PHILLIPI DE PORIS - La Casta Susana y Presentación del Niño Jesús en el templo

PHILLIPI DE PORIS - La Casta Susana y Presentación del Niño Jesús en el templo
Filippo Porri (Ferrara 1596-1780)
"Susana and the Elders" and "Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple" h. 1670
Two wooden boards carved in high relief. In Susana and the old ones, the sides have been added.

In Susana's scene, the composition is articulated around the figure of the woman who bathes and is violated by the old men, one of them pulling the cloak that covers her to show her nudity. In the background you can see the city with domes and towers. To the left of the composition is a tower of fish intertwined with men and crowned by a boy playing a conch shell, surely with an allegorical meaning.
The scene of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple has many more characters in an interior where you can see architectural elements such as columns and decorations that, together with the arrangement of the figures, have a clearly Venetian echo.

The Soumaya Museum in Mexico City has two panels by Porri with the theme "The Awakening of Lazarus" and "The Sermon of John the Baptist" with similar size, same material and identical stylistic concept. The Lazarus panel is signed and dated "Phillipi de Porris Venetus Opus 1671".
Another similar table went up for auction in October 2021 with the theme of The Flagellation of Christ. These panels, similar in size, technique, composition and religious theme, suggest a group that would be commissioned from Porri for the city of Venice in 1671, for some studio or elsewhere.
Most of the artist's work is preserved in the city of Ferrara, but his style refers to Venetian figurative culture and in particular refers to the style of the sculptor Francesco Terilli (active between 1596 and 1633), as can be seen in these two pieces.
The fortune that Filippo Porri achieved in his life continued to be very great in the 18th century, so much so that he was included in the catalog of the most outstanding Ferrarense painters and sculptors in the city, published by Cesare Cittadella in 1783 who says " It was this sculptor at that time celebrated, as evidenced by his works, which are considered with great esteem, especially several bas-reliefs".
His production is mainly made up of round sculptures that are found in churches whose faces can be seen with his hand on our boards.
size: 28 x 38 and 26 x 38 cm.