1712 - LUCA SALTARELLO

LUCA SALTARELLO Saint Peter Heals the Paralytic Oil on canvas, 170x220 cm; unframed. Saint Peter Heals the Paralytic (also known as Saint Peter Heals the Cripple or Saint Peter Heals the Disciple Aeneas) is an important oil on canvas historically attributed to the Genoese Baroque painter Luca Saltarello. The painting depicts the biblical scene of Saints Peter and John healing a lame man at the gate of the Temple (Acts of the Apostles, 3), and is executed in the style of 17th-century Baroque painting The composition shows, in the foreground, the ailing man lying down, being taken by the hand by an elderly, bearded apostle (Saint Peter) who is performing the miracle, while the other apostle (Saint John), dressed in red, looks on from the left. The scene is characterized by strong contrasts of light and shadow and by a crowd of onlookers against a classical architectural backdrop. It bears a close resemblance to a painting by Saltarello on a similar subject, which is housed at the Pinacoteca dell’Accademia Ligustica in Genoa. Saltarello trained in the workshop of Domenico Fiasella before moving to Rome, where he presumably died in 1655; it is also likely that he studied under Andrea Ansaldo.