STROZZI, BERNARDO, called IL PRETE GENOVESE or IL CAPUCCINO
THE MIRACULOUS FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND WITH FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISHES
This picture was painted in Venice and reflects the influence of Veronese. It is assumed to have been among the 37 pictures brought to Russia in 1767 by the banker Paolo Madruzzi and acquired by Empress Catherine II, who presented it to Count Grigorii Orlov to decorate the palace at Gatchino, before it was later moved to the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg. In 1860 Grand Duke Konstantin presented it to Father Dmitrii Kukolevskii.
Provenance: held in the collection of V.A.Sologub (Moscow); in the collection of G.A.Brokar (Moscow) at the end of the 19th century; owned by his heirs from 1900; held by the State Museums Foundation after 1918; in the Pushkin Museum since 1925.