(Perugia 1609–1681 Rome)
Caritas Romana, oil on canvas, 74 x 61 cm, framed

We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Sestieri for identifying the present painting as a work by Cerrini. Giovanni Domenico Cerrini, one of the most prominent practitioners of Roman Classicist painting in the tradition of the Bolognese school, was one of Guido Reni’s most important workshop collaborators. He is also said to have worked for Domenichino before establishing himself in Rome as an independent artist. Under the early patronage of the Spada and Rospigliosi families, in particular of the cardinals Bernardino Spada and Giulio Rospigliosi, Cerrini soon became highly successful, receiving numerous commissions from the Curia and the Roman aristocracy. He executed the altarpiece for Borromini’s church of San Carlo alle Quatre Fontane, Rome. He received his most prestigious commission from his early patron, Cardinal Rospigliosi, (the future Pope Clement IX) the decoration of the crossing of Santa Maria della Vittoria. He also decorated the galleries of the Colonna, Corsini, and Spada palaces. In his work, he developed influences from Domenichino and Guercino, as well as Lanfranco’s work, into an important style of Roman High Baroque painting.