Lattuada reasonably suggests that the subject of the pictures probably discounts a commission from a private patron. Quoting archival discoveries made by Eduardo Nappi, Lattuada associates the two works with a probable commission by a charitable institution in Naples called the Pio Monte dei Poveri Vergognosi which on 1 February 1670 is listed as paying Giordano 15 ducats and then a further 25 'per li ritratti che doverà fare per servizio de detto Monte'.¹ Three weeks later he was paid 5 ducats and 26 grana for the remaining balance and for the frames of the 'due tabbelle del detto Monte'.² Lattuada convincingly argues that this relatively small sum of money was well below the amount Giordano would normally have charged and that this relative discount would befit work carried out for a charity. He also proposes that the word 'ritratto' be considered in a broader sense, in this case as a depiction of poverty, rather than as a literal portrait of a person.

Furthermore, Lattuada quotes the findings of Luigi Coiro (see Literature), who proposes that the money available to the Pio Monte was a direct result of the bequest of a certain Marco di Lorenzo, a butcher who left a fabulous amount of money to several charities in Naples upon his death. The present canvases would have been painted for the Pio Monte to illustrate the types of charitable good deeds they undertook and were exhibited as processional banners during di Lorenzo's funeral.

The attribution has been independently endorsed by Professors Giuseppe Scavizzi and Riccardo Lattuada; the latter's comprehensive study of the works (see Literature) serves as the basis for this note.

1 Archivio Storico Banco di Napoli, Banco dei Poveri, matricola 451 and 453, quoted from E. Nappi, 'Momenti della vita di Luca Giordano nei documenti dell'Archivio Storico del Banco di Napoli', in Ricerche sul '600 napoletano, 1991, pp. 161, 164, note 101, p. 174, doc nos. 138–39.

2 Archivio Storico di Napoli, Banco dei Poveri, giornale matricola 453: 'Partita di 5 Ducati e 26 grana del 21 febbraio 1670./ Alli Governatori del Monte dei Poveri Vergognosi conto corrente ducati 5,26. Et per essi a don Teodoro Giura loro secretario, dissero per saldo e final pagamento di tutte le spese fatte per le due cornici fatte per le due tabelle del detto Monte, come ogni altra spesa fatta per servizio del detto Monte, isuta il libro di spese da detti Signori visto e liquidato dal loro Rationale'.