Jupiter and Samele

Pietro della Vecchia was the leading painter in Venice in the first half of the 17th century, as well as a founding member of the Collegio de Pittori, the precursor to the great Venetian academy created in 1752. His first documented work dates to the late 1620s, and by the 1630s Vecchia had become the preeminent religious painter in the city. Well versed in the art of his 16th-century Venetian predecessors, Vecchia was also a respected connoisseur, agent, and restorer, who himself conserved Giorgione's Castelfranco altarpiece in 1643-1645. His art blends the monumentality achieved by Titian and Tintoretto with the dramatic chiaroscuro of the Caravaggeschi – indeed, Vecchia himself was married to the daughter of the accomplished Caravaggesque painter Nicholas Regnier. His unique style, tendency towards esoteric subject matter, and taste for feats of artistic virtuosity made Vecchia's work highly sought-after by the most sophisticated Venetian collectors of his day.

Dr. Aikema dates this painting to circa 1660-70, comparing it on stylistic grounds to the series considered the masterpiece of his mature period: seven canvases painted for the Monastero dei Gesuiti, Venice (1664-74). The picture was probably part of the decoration for the Portego of Palazzo Fini in San Moise', Venice. The dramatic composition is inspired by a picture by Giulio Romano now lost and known to us through a watercolour (Mertoun House, St. Boswells, Scotland).