Roman School, 17th Century

Busbridge Hall, near Godalming, Surrey;
Acquired at the Busbridge Hall sale,1906, by Sydney George Everitt (b. 1861), of Knowle Hall, Warwickshire;
Thence by descent, until sold with the house in 1972;
Thence by inheritance at Knowle Hall, until recently.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas has been lined. The paint layer is unstable particularly along the top and bottom edges. There is a patched and restored tear upper right through the plume of the helmet. There are small flaked losses over the surface. The colours saturate well and are generally un-abraded. The varnish is discoloured and the tonality would improve with its removal."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This impressive work appears to have been painted in Rome during the seventeenth century, probably by an artist working in the wake of Cavaliere d'Arpino. Stylistically, there are similarities of execution, notably in the sculptural modelling of the protagonists and the use of rich prime colours, with certain foreign artists working in Rome during the middle of the seventeenth century, such as the Fleming Jean Daret, whose own Conversion of St. Paul is in Clermont-Ferrnat, Musée d'Art Roger-Quillot.¹

1.  Inv. no. 988.29.1; see O. Bonfait & N. MacGregor, Le Dieu Caché, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2000, pp. 232-34, no. 57, reproduced.