Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610-1662)

An early work, datable c.1631/2 when the artist was assisting Pietro da Cortona on the decoration of the chapel in Palazzo Barberini, Rome (for the latter's frescoes, see G. Briganti, Pietro da Cortona, Florence, 1982, figs.121-4). Other works by Romanelli datable to the phase when Pietro da Cortona's influence on his work was at its peak include The Rape of Helen in the Capitoline Museums, Moses striking the Rock at Oslo (ibid., figs.139-40) and the Gladiators in the Prado (exhibited Madrid, Cason del Buen Retiro, Pintura Italiana del Siglo XVII, April-May 1970, pp.474-5, no.157, illustrated)