Christ Healing the Sick

Januarius Zick 1730 - 1797

Summary

Christ Healing the Sick is apparently the only work by Januarius Zick in a public collection in Great Britain. Few of Zick's paintings have left Germany, which accounts for his relative obscurity in this country, despite the fact that he was one of the leading German painters of his time. This is a fine example of his style in the 1770s, by which time he was responding to the influence of early Neo-Classicism. This is evident in the careful symmetry and diagonal structure of the composition, which nevertheless seems distinctively Baroque in its rhythm and movement. The strong chiaroscuro and naturalistic figures indicate a debt to Rembrandt, probably obtained principally through Zick's early training with his father. The naturalistic hills recall the banks of the Rhine, although the town is neither Koblenz (near which Zick spent most of his life), nor any other city in the vicinity.