The Calling of Saint Peter

At the time of its sale from the collection the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, in 1999, this painting was offered alongside two other works by Giuseppe Carlo Ratti of the same dimensions: Christ giving the keys to Saint Peter; and The Angel Liberating Saint Peter (Sotheby’s, New York, 14 October 1999, lots 123 and 124). The three canvases relate to compositions from Ratti’s monumental cycle of Scenes from the Life of Saint Peter, commissioned for the Oratory of Saints Peter and Catherine, Savona and completed in 1782. In her 1983 monograph, Rosalina Collu notes the existence of several smaller replicas and bozzetti for the finished Oratory canvases which measure 153 ½ x 93 ¾ in.; 390 x 238 cm. (R. Collu, Carlo Giuseppe Ratti, Genoa, 1983, pp. 64-65).