Theodosius Repulsed from the Church by Saint Ambrose (c. 1705): Artwork and History

Theodosius Repulsed from the Church by Saint Ambrose (c. 1705) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Alessandro Magnasco (Italian, 1667–1749).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This painting depicts a historical event from the year 390 when Ambrose, the archbishop of Milan, refused to give communion to Emperor Theodosius I until he made public penance for the massacre of thousands of innocents after an insurrection. Theodosius, the last emperor to command the entire Roman Empire, eventually submitted to the archbishop’s moral authority. The brushwork and arrangement of figures in this composition showcase Alessandro Magnasco’s fluid, energetic style. However, for the elaborate background edifice, an imaginary interpretation of the atrium of an early Christian church, he most likely employed an unidentified specialist in architectural painting.

Object facts

• Title: Theodosius Repulsed from the Church by Saint Ambrose
• Date: c. 1705
• Artist attribution: Alessandro Magnasco (Italian, 1667–1749)
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 155.3 × 213.5 cm (61 1/8 × 84 1/16 in.); Framed: 189.9 × 248.3 cm (74 3/4 × 97 3/4 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1961.43

Collection credit

Clyde M. Carr Fund

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.