Oil on copper, 19cm by 26cm.
An inscription on the reverse of the painting states: ‘Simon de Pesaro from Monsieur Scarcelli at Bologna.’
Simone Cantarini, also known as Simone de Pesaro, painted mainly religious subjects taken from the New Testament.
Paintings of the Holy Family and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt were particular favourites, but he was also a fine portrait painter and a highly skilled and prolific etcher.
He worked mainly in Bologna, where he studied with Guido Reni (1575-1642), whose style he followed closely.
