Angelo Caroselli [attributed To], Saint Sebastian And Saint Irene. 1615-1652. Oil On Canvas.

Angelo Caroselli [attributed to], Saint Sebastian and Saint Irene. 1615-1652. Oil on canvas. 36.5 x 30.5 cm unframed; 45 x 38.3 cm framed. Good condition. The attribution to Caroselli is due to Vittoria Markova. Restored several times. In an antique gilt-leaf frame. Replica of the oil painting on the same subject in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow (inv. 2686). Acquired in Italy for the Hermitage in 1846, the painting entered the Moscow museum's collections in 1930. At the Hermitage, it was attributed to Ribera, and later to the school of Caravaggio. Roberto Longhi attributed it to Guercino (Longhi, 1926), Sterling to Orazio Gentileschi, Pallucchini to an anonymous Frenchman, Nicolson to Orazio Riminaldi and Brejon de Lavergnée to Nicolas Tournier. Angelo Caroselli (Rome, February 10, 1585 – ibid., April 8, 1652) was an Italian Baroque painter. His style was very close to that of Caravaggio and his circle of followers. A self-taught artist, he had the chance to frequent Caravaggio circles. According to Baldinucci, he met Merisi in person, which inspired him to devote himself to painting. His stays in Florence (1605) and Naples (1618) are attested. In 1615 he married the Sicilian Maria Zurca. After the death of his wife in 1637, Caroselli lived with the painter Agostino Tassi. In 1642, he married Brigitta, daughter of the Flemish painter Baldassare Lauri (Lauwers), father of Francesco and Filippo Lauri, who would become his pupils and collaborators. Although a renowned artist during his lifetime (his membership in the Academy of Saint Luke from 1608 to 1636 is documented), Caroselli is best known as a copyist, restorer, and even a notorious forger. Among his considerable body of work, his small paintings for private patrons stand out, addressing a variety of themes, with a high proportion of remarkably sensual female allegories, reflecting the artist's personal inclinations, according to his biographers. His copies of masters such as Caravaggio, Nicolas Poussin, Annibale Carracci, and Domenichino are excellent. His work sometimes reveals an assumed archaic style, which, towards the end of his life, brings him closer to the style of Orazio Gentileschi or the Nordic artists. Among his pupils are, in addition to the Lauri brothers, Pietro Paolini, Tommaso Donini (Caravaggio) and his own son, Carlo Caroselli (died in 1671).