Lot Essay
The present picture was accompanied until 1984 by a pendant depicting The Conversion of Saul formerly in the collection of Frederick W. Field, Greenacres, Beverly Hills, sold in these Rooms, 11 December 1992, lot 15 (£60,000; Scarpa Sonino, op. cit., pp. 112-13, no. 23, illustrated in colour), and now in the European private collection. The two subjects, though not traditionally paired, are thematically related as scenes of Old and New Testament salvation.
Pallucchini emphasizes Amigoni's contrasting treatment of the two scenes 'ambedue condotte con una impeccabile maestrìa, sottilmente melodrammatica la prima [the present painting], più concitata la seconda'. As Pilo points out, the influence of Luca Giordano is evident in both pictures. They are consistently dated within Amigoni's years in England, 1729-39, and by Dario Succi, who describes the present work as 'una delle migliori espressioni della vena rococò dell'arte di Jacopo Amigoni', more specifically to the end of that period, 1737-9.
Pallucchini emphasizes Amigoni's contrasting treatment of the two scenes 'ambedue condotte con una impeccabile maestrìa, sottilmente melodrammatica la prima [the present painting], più concitata la seconda'. As Pilo points out, the influence of Luca Giordano is evident in both pictures. They are consistently dated within Amigoni's years in England, 1729-39, and by Dario Succi, who describes the present work as 'una delle migliori espressioni della vena rococò dell'arte di Jacopo Amigoni', more specifically to the end of that period, 1737-9.