The parable of the rich man and Lazarus,
oil on canvas, 193 x 286 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Sicily

The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri (no. 53431) as Mattia Preti.

This painting represents the banquet in the house of the rich man Epulone: a parable told by Christ to the disciples and referred to in the Gospel according to Saint Luke (16:19-31). The story tells how Epulone used to eat sumptuously every day, while ignoring the begging Lazarus who was at his door. After their death however, Lazarus found comfort in paradise while Epulone was condemned to the torments of hell without consolation, just as he had given none to Lazarus in life.

This moral parable became broadly diffused in Italy during the latter half of the sixteenth century, particularly thanks to the success of the painted versions by the Bassano brothers. In the following century, various artists, including Mattia Preti (1613–1699) treated the theme in a work now conserved in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, Rome (inv.1363). He handled the subject in an entirely original manner, focusing attention on Epulone who turns towards the spectator with a challenging gaze, that might be understood as of disdainful arrogance, or of presuming to involve the spectator with his own behavior.

This characteristic of the interpretation of the Biblical parable is also present in the present painting, here however, in contrast to the work in the Palazzo Barberini, there is greater compositional breadth. Indeed, the present painting is characterized by a significant enlargement of the representational space: there are more figures, and greater attention is given to highlighting the wealth of the protagonist. Note, for example the table loaded with dishes, the presence of musicians to lend cheer to the banquet and the ostentation of silver-wear both held by the servants, and displayed on a wall behind Epulone; the latter feature is also present in the Roman paining. The bright airiness of the composition, opening into the background with an architectural perspective, and the adoption of a silver-grey pallet, are all elements that are reminiscent of Mattia Preti’s production during his Neapolitan sojourn during the 1650s.

Indeed, it was at Naples that Bernardo De Dominici saw two paintings by Mattia Preti representing The Banquet of Epulone each of differing composition, one of which was made for Don Antonio Caputo (see J. T. Spike, Mattia Preti. Catalogo ragionato dei dipinti, Florence 1999, p. 254, no. 185). During the 1920s Lina Montalto signaled a painting of this same subject as on the Neapolitan art market (see L. Montalto, Il passaggio di Mattia Preti a Napoli, in: L’Arte, XXIII, 1920, p. 103, note 2).

Gregorio Preti (1603–1672) also collaborated on several occasions with his younger brother, Mattia, and he painted several banquet scenes, such as, for example the Convivial initiation banquet in a private collection, made in Rome during the 1640s, and probably also showing the intervention of Mattia Preti (see M. Marini, in: C. Carlino (ed.), Gregorio Preti da Taverna a Roma, 1603-1672, Reggio Calabria 2003, pp. 114-116).

In 1661, Mattia Preti settled on Malta, where he was elevated to the rank of Knight of Grace and started work on the execution of the renovation of the interior of St John, Valletta. In Malta Preti received prestige, security and constant occupation; his association with the Knights also resulted in a dramatic expansion of his circle of patrons. He continued to dispatch paintings to collectors in Naples, and in addition received commissions from all over Europe, especially from Spain and Sicily. His last works on Malta were in the cathedral of Saint Paul, for which he painted an altarpiece in 1682 and, with extensive studio assistance, seven large paintings representing episodes of Saint Paul’s visit to Malta (1688–9; in situ). In 1689 he frescoed Saint Paul Shipwrecked (in situ) on the vault.