Giovanni Martinelli Florence 1610 - 1659

The present composition may be closely compared to Martinelli's La Gioventù sopresa dalla Morte in Florence, Uffizi, in which a younger man is similarly surprised from behind by Death holding an hour glass.  The present work may be dated to after the artist's presumed sojourn in Rome from 1625-1632 when his work reveals the influence of the Lucchese Pietro Paolini. Compare, for example, Paolini’s Man at a desk watched by Death, formerly with Simon Dickinson 2001 (see P.G. Maccari, Pietro Paolini, pittore lucchese, Lucca 1987, pp. 91-2, cat. no. 13, reproduced) in which the same compositional technique, subject matter and distinctly Roman use of light and dark apply.