L’ultima parola alla committenza. Il Battesimo di Cristo di Melchiorre Galluzzi: storia, restauri e indagini diagnostiche

The ultimate answer to all commitments. The Baptism of Christ of Melchiorre Galluzzi: history, restorations and diagnostic investigation In 2021, David Ekserdjian included, unexpectedly, the Baptism of Christ by Melchiorre Galluzzi, realized for the church of San Giovanni Battista in Veronella (VR), among the masterpieces in the prestigious international volume of Yale University Press about the Italian Renaissance altar- piece. The painting had drawn attention for an affair linked to its patrons, who required the figure of Christ would be portrayed standing and not bowing as the painter had suggested. The results of the research, meant to verify what reported in documents, are here presented. The study availed itself of detailed archival research, followed by targeted non-invasive diagnostics through near infrared imaging compared with images in the visible light spectrum, both recent and from the 80s, since the peculiar premises. The results confirmed the hypothesis of the modified figure of Christ, but also made it possible to point out many other pentimenti, some of which clearly due to the painter’s inspiration, beside identifying also other modifications made during the 19th cen- tury restoration, possibly with the aim of adapting the artwork to the current taste of that time.