(Naples 1606–1656)
Saint Dorothea; and
Saint Catherine,
oil on canvas, 104.5 x 78.5 cm and 105 x 78.5 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
art market, Rome, 1968 (according to Zeri);
art market, Florence, 2019 (as Pacecco De Rosa);
where acquired by the present owner

The painting of Saint Dorothea is registered in the Fototeca Zeri, under no. 51663 (as Pacecco De Rosa). The painting of Saint Catherine is registered in the Fototeca Zeri, under no. 51662 (as Pacecco De Rosa/Pacecco De Rosa and workshop).

We are grateful to Riccardo Lattuada for confirming the attribution for both paintings on the basis of photographs.

Pacecco de Rosa was the son of the painter Tommaso de Rosa. He trained with his stepfather, the Caravaggist painter Filippo Vitale (1585–1650), later continuing his studies in the studio of Massimo Stanzione (1585–1656) whose classical style was to be of enormous importance to the development of his artistic style. He was one of Stanzione’s most talented pupils and in his treatment of the present two saints, the influence of his master is evident. Elsewhere in Pacecco’s work, The Massacre of the Innocents in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. no. 1973-253-1), also clearly evidences the example of Stanzione in its luminous palette and attention to detail.

Pacecco was sought after during the course of his career, receiving numerous secular and ecclesiastical commissions, including the Annunciation for San Gregorio Armeno and the Deposition for the Church of Nunziatella, both in Naples.

In the present paintings, the figures of Saint Catherine and Saint Dorothea are silhouetted against the blue sky, streaked with white clouds, countered and framed by dark rocks. The sweet featured young women with fine white skins and the luminous reflections of their mantle can be compared to Pacecco De Rosa´s Flora in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, dateable to 1645–1650 (inv. no. GG 9679). The present painting is also comparable to other works by Pacecco such as the Saint Dorothea in the Galerie Národní, Prague (see V. Pacelli, Giovanni Francesco de Rosa detto Pacecco de Rosa 1607–1656, Naples 2008, cat. nos. 79-80).