(Verona 1524–1606)
The Calling of Peter,
oil on slate, 32.4 x 40.4 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Christie’s, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 205 (as Paolo Farinati);
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Bernard Aikema for confirming the attribution after examination of the present painting in the original.

This picture shows a dramatic and dynamic composition, the New Testament episode of Christ walking on the water and saving Saint Peter (Matthew 14, 25-33). The author is the versatile and prolific Paolo Farinati. This painter and architect, whose career runs parallel to that of the celebrated Paolo Caliari, called Veronese, was the leading artist in Verona during the middle years of the sixteenth century, until his position was challenged by the younger Felice Brusasorci (1542–1605).

Farinati’s art is recognisable for its central-italian orientated maniera, which recalls artists such as Salviati and, ultimately, Michelangelo. The present painting is on slate and this technique, which was known since Antiquity, enjoyed a renewed popularity in mid-sixteenth-century Italy, as is also confirmed by Vasari. In Verona, painting on slate became a true specialty, particularly in the early years of the seventeenth century. The present picture is an early and high-quality example of this local artistic trend.

Aikema proposes dating this work to the 1560s, when Farinati painted some of his best-known works, such as Ecce Homo (1562), now in the Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona.