GIORDANO, LUCA, called FA PRESTO

THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINT LAURENCE

Attributed by V.N. Lazarev to an unknown master. Painted in the so-called 'dark'manner but does not belong to the early period of the artist's work, as was long thought to be the case, but was executed after Giordano acquainted himself with Venetian painting. This is confirmed in part by the fact that the pose of the Saint can be traced to a famous canvas by Titian on the same subject in the Venetian Church of the Jesuits.

Provenance: held in the collection of the Princes Baryatinskii in the Marino estate in the Kursk Province; then in the State Museums Foundation: in the Pushkin Museum since 1925.