Roman School, 17th Century

This picture, probably executed by a Roman artist in the mid-17th century, derives from a well-known etching by Simone Cantarini, thought to have been made in the 1630s (see P. Bellini, L'opera incisa di Simone Cantarini, Milan, 1980, pp. 48-51). It was a composition that also inspired a work by Sassoferrato in the Hermitage, as well as another picture at Rudding Park, Yorkshire. In the present lot there is one notable difference: in the etching, Christ holds a goldfinch on a string, whereas here it is a flower.