Baroque Painting – Neapolitan School, 17th Century – Attributed To Mattia Preti

Moses Strikes Water from the Rock

An important 17th-century oil on canvas, attributed to the circle of Mattia Preti (1613–1699), a master of the Italian Baroque.
The scene depicts the biblical episode in which Moses, in the desert of Horeb, strikes the rock with his staff to bring forth water to quench the thirst of the people of Israel (Exodus 17).

The work stands out for its pictorial quality, the monumentality of the figures, and the refined use of light and color, elements that point to the hand of Mattia Preti or his workshop, active between Naples and Malta in the second half of the 17th century.

The compositional arrangement and the theatrical rendering of the faces and gestures are fully consistent with the Baroque style characteristic of the Calabrian master. The marked use of chiaroscuro, the dramatic drapery, and the presence of robust and powerful figures find affinities with other works by Preti preserved in Italian and European public and private collections.

Mattia Preti, known as “the Calabrian Knight”, was one of the leading figures of Italian Baroque painting and one of the principal followers of Caravaggesque naturalism. He worked in Rome, Naples, and Malta, distinguishing himself for the expressive intensity and narrative balance of his religious scenes.
The subject depicted—of great symbolic power—belongs to the highest repertoire of 17th-century sacred painting.

• Technique: Oil on canvas

• Period: 17th century (ca. 1655–1680)

• Attribution: Neapolitan School – Circle of Mattia Preti

• Condition: Good, with minimal signs of wear consistent with its age

• Frame: Gilded wood, contemporary

• Dimensions: 157 x 104 cm (without frame)