The calling of Peter

The use of slate as a medium was common amongst artists in working in Verona. Felice Brusasorci, Sante Creara and Alessandro Turchi as well as Paolo and Orazio Farinati were all exponents of this genre. Slate was a particularly favored support for scenes depicted in tenebrist settings.

Farinati first began painting on slate during the 1590s when he was seeking to achieve a greater intensity in his paintings. Slate enabled him to do this by making use of the stone itself as a shadowy prime layer for the subject.