(Perugia 1609–1681 Rome / Roma) Rebecca at the Well, oil on canvas, 112 x 102 cm, framed

Certificate: Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri, Rome (July 2009). Giovanni Domenico Cerrini, one of the most prominent exponents of Roman Classicism in the tradition of the Bolognese School, was one of the most important collaborators in Guido Reni’s workshop in Rome. He was trained by Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia. According to a number of sources, he is also supposed to have worked for Domenichino, until he established himself as an independent artist in Rome. Having been supported by the patrician families Spada and Rospigliosi, and especially by the cardinals Bernardino Spada and Giulio Rospigliosi, at an early date, Cerrini soon became enormously successful, receiving numerous commissions from the papal court and the Roman aristocracy. For example, he executed the altarpiece in Borromini’s San Carlo alle quattro Fontane, one of the art historically most significant new buildings of Roman High Baroque. His patron Cardinal Rospigliosi, meanwhile Pope Clement IX, entrusted him with his most important commission: the decoration of the dome in the crossing of Santa Maria della Vittoria. He also decorated the galleries in the Palazzo Colonna, the Palazzo Corsini, and the Palazzo Spada. In his works, he combined influences from Domenichino, Guercino, and Lanfranco to create a significant oeuvre characteristic of the Roman High Baroque. The facial features of the present Rebecca resemble those of Cerrini’s Mary Magdalene in the Louvre in Paris.