(Bologna 1576–1622 Parma)
The Mourning over the Dead Christ,
oil on panel, 34.5 x 43 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

Literature:
N. Roio, Bartolomeo Schedoni e Leonello Spada: alcune opere sconosciute di due ‘caravaggisti’ padani, in: Valori Tattili, vol. 1, 2013, p. 58, illustrated p. 62, fig. 19 (as Leonello Spada)

Leonello Spada came from modest origins, however, he attained status as a painter and he worked under the protection of high ranking patrons, such as the cardinals Maffeo Barberini and Alessandro d’Este. In 1610 Spada travelled to Malta, passing through Rome and Naples where he may have met Caravaggio. In La Valletta he was also certainly able to see Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome in the church of San Giovanni dei Cavalieri. Spada spent his final years in Parma in the service of Duke Ranuccio Farnese.

According to Roio, the composition is typical of Spada’s late production, the tragic faces and twisted draperies are comparable with The Mourning over the Death Christ in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (inv. no. 2012.10.1). Christ’s feet in the foreground is a citation from Caravaggio’s Madonna dei Pellegrini in the Church of Sant’Agostino, Rome.