Artista napoletano, seconda metà XVII secolo

Oil on canvas

cm. 76,5x124. Framed

This agitated scene, depicting a group of Roman soldiers attacking several half-naked enemies, reveals a certain influence of the young Poussin (The Victory of Gideon over the Midianites, Vatican Pinacoteca, Rome) and above all of Aniello Falcone, unmistakably placing the author of the painting within the Neapolitan milieu around the mid-seventeenth century. Unlike these illustrious models, however, the canvas disregards any classicising filter, and the representation unfolds in a chaotic manner, with a clear emphasis on the brutality of the action carried out by the soldiers. The composition even appears to retain traces of late Mannerist influence, in the manner of Belisario Corenzio: a combination of elements that may also be found in more peripheral figures of the Neapolitan artistic scene such as Carlo Coppola and Scipione Compagno.