Missing Italian Baroque Masterpiece is Discovered in New Rochelle

“Dr. Thomas Ruggio elaborates on his discovery of Cesare Dandini’s elusive oil painting, Holy Family with the Infant St. John, which has topped the art community’s wild horse chase list since the ‘60s.”

On Sept. 29, Director and Associate Professor of Visual Arts at Iona University, Thomas Ruggio delivered a riveting testimony and academic lecture, “Rediscovering A Masterpiece: Cesare Dandini’s Holy Family with the Infant St. John”, at St. John’s University. He recounts his discovery of an Italian baroque masterpiece, previously assumed to be lost to the slippery folds of time—until January 2020. Professor Ruggio stunned art connoisseurs and historians around the world when he realized that Cesare Dandini’s acclaimed painting, Holy Family with the Infant St. John was fully intact, hanging on a wall at the Church of the Holy Family, in New Rochelle, New York.

Dean and Professor at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Teresa Delgado presented the opening remarks of the lecture. She spent nearly 30 years as the church’s parishioner, and had grown accustomed to seeing the painting hung prominently on the wall. Delgado describes it as a “beautiful piece of artistic expression”, and hadn’t thought to examine its origins before. Dr. Delgado praises Professor Ruggio’s discovery, calling it “a lesson in widening the lens, opening the aperture, and allowing other perspectives in.”

International art scholars and museum curators had been searching for the painting since the 1960s, unable to locate its whereabouts. Unknown to the art community, Dandini’s work was in plain sight. Professor Ruggio had visited the Church of the Holy Family several times, but hadn’t observed anything unusual about the painting. However, while he was embracing a moment of quiet reflection inside the church, a favorable bright glare illuminated the canvas. The multi-disciplinary art historian, college professor, artist and curator experienced an invigorating moment of enlightenment. It dawned on Professor Ruggio, upon closer inspection, that he was in the presence of a 17th century Italian Baroque rarity. He recalled seeing similar works during his trips to Italy, and was therefore able to identify the genre and era. Professor Ruggio knew he had a project on his hands. He immediately began snapping photographs on his cell phone to distribute to colleagues in Italy and Manhattan, enthusiastic to uncover more about the painting.

Professor Ruggio immediately sought to unearth the identity of this enigmatic masterpiece. Through extensive research and collaboration with art historian colleagues, Professor Ruggio learned that Dandini began creating his work in Florence, Italy in the 1630s. A wave of Black Death had consumed the city, potentially the inspiration for including St. John in the frame. The patron saint of Florence represents safety and protection for the suffering residents. Holy Family, enlivened with a blushing color palette and lifelike contours, depicts Joseph, Mary, Jesus, and the baby St. John the Baptist. Mary is cradling the infant Jesus, while the baby St. John the Baptist lumbers at her knees. The Virgin’s face is still and inquisitive, gazing upwards to the invisible Heavens. She is seeking the solace of God, as she battles uncertainty regarding the future of her newborn son.

Infant Jesus is clutching a small goldfinch, which symbolizes the soul, crucifixion, and resurrection. A central motif that Dandini expresses through the characters, and their accouterments, is rebirth, hope, and beginning anew. During the hysteria and outbreak of the plague, this optimistic outlook provided the faith that Florentines were desperately searching for. According to Professor Ruggio’s research, Holy Family was hung behind an altar where citizens traveled to pray. Dr. Delgado draws a parallel between the effects of COVID-19 and the Black Death period, “Today, nearly 400 years later, as we emerge from the darkness of our modern pandemic, we can compare the losses and resilience of our University community to that of the city of Florence.”

Professor Ruggio’s innocuous inclination to roam inside religious buildings guided him to an revolutionary finding—one of the most fulfilling of his career, and a gift to the art community. Cesare Dandini’s allegorical Baroque painting, belonging to a collection of four of his masterworks, mysteriously made the voyage from Italy to southeastern New York. Holy Family was an emblem of faith during its primitive days, and Professor Ruggio’s discovery emphasizes the notion that, like hope, it’s never completely lost, just waiting to be realized.