Lot Essay
Traditionally attributed to the Veronese painter Alessandro Turchi, we are grateful to Professor Nicola Spinosa for suggesting an attribution of this powerful work to Leonello Spada. Bolognese by birth, after training in the studio of the decorative painter Cesare Baglioni, Spada gravitated to the Caracci academy where he fell under the influence of Ludovico. However, in 1609 Spada travelled to Rome where he absorbed the work of Caravaggio and evolved a dramatic, monumental style that can be evinced by the present work.