Lot Essay
In the early-17th century, Rome was a crucible in which artists of different backgrounds, cultures, and tongues worked side-by-side exchanging techniques, experiences, styles, and iconographies. In the space of a few years, they created an extraordinary artistic renewal, the results of which would be felt throughout Europe. This movement occurred mostly in the shadow of Caravaggio, who left the Holy City at the hight of his fame in 1606. He did not have a workshop, and the gap he left in the avid Roman market was filled by Bartolomeo Manfredi, who tried to satisfy collectors' requests for paintings inspired by Caravaggio. Manfredi created a new artistic style, called Manfrediana methodus by Joachim von Sandrart in 1675, translating Caravaggio's themes and compositions into simplified, standardised representations that were then supplied to French and Dutch painters present in Rome at that time. A sudden but short-lived production of works, most often profane, appeared in Rome, up to circa 1630. One of the most famous prototypes used was Caravaggio's Calling of Saint Matthew in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, often transformed by Manfredi and his disciples into an anecdotal interior scene with gamblers, drinkers and soldiers. The attribution of these paintings is often complicated and this Denial of Saint Peter is no exception, but even in its current state of preservation the quality of execution is clear.