Donato Creti

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has not been restored for some time and is in very good and interesting condition. The canvas has an effective glue lining. The paint layer is dirty and dull at present, but it will certainly improve dramatically with a light cleaning and the right varnish. There are visible pentimenti in the shadowed part of the neck in the right background which are interesting. There are only a few restorations; one can be seen in the upper right. There do not appear to be any restorations in the hair, neck and face. This picture will respond very well to a small amount of restoration.
"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 touching representation of the penitent St. Peter bears the characteristic handling of paint associated with the Bolognese painter Donato Creti. The freshness and liveliness of brushwork are typical of other works from Creti's career, and is ultimatley indebted to the example set a generation before by Guido Reni. Creti trained with the little known painter Giorgio Rasparini before entering the studio of Lorenzo Pasinelli. Through Pasinelli, Creti would have absorbed the style of Reni, as Pasinelli himself studied under Simone Cantarini, Guido Reni’s most gifted pupil. The composition itself bears marked simmilarities to Reni's own examples of the Penitent St. Peter, a subject he employed in a number of different formats and on a number of occasions. One such example (see S. Pepper, Guido Reni, 1988 (2nd Italian edition), p. 342, no. 54, reproduced pl. 40), uses the same bust length format, similarly rendered clasped hands, upward glance, sketchy brushwork, and bright color palette.