(Romagnano Sesia 1573–1632 Milan)
Saints Peter and Paul,
oil on canvas, 155 x 120 cm, framed  

Provenance:
possibly in the Ospedale dei SS. Pietro e Paolo dei Pellegrini, Milan, circa 1626-1628;
Private collection, Rome

We are grateful to Filippo Maria Ferro for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing the present lot.

The Saints Peter and Paul with their distinctive attributes, the keys and the sword respectively, are in intent conversation, as they make their way as ‘pilgrim’ apostles to Rome, where they will bring their message of faith and demonstrate their religious commitment by facing martyrdom.

The composition of the apostles in the present painting is evidently connected to the altarpiece of Christ adored by Saints Peter and Paul now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, (inv. no. 273, cat. 1965, no. 504, 274 x 184 cm).

The Kunsthistorisches Museum painting was originally located on the high altar of the Church of the Ospedale dei SS. Pietro e Paolo dei Pellegrini in Milan (see: Catalogo delle pitture insigni che stanno esposte al pubblico nella città di Milano, Milano 1688, p. 78; C. Torre, Il ritratto di Milano, Milano 1673, ed. 1719, pp. 10-11; and M. Rosci, Mostra del Cerano, exhibition catalogue, introduction by A. M. Brizio, Novara 1964, pp. 113-114; M. Rosci, Il Cerano, Milan 2000, pp. 261-263, no. 184).

The figure of Saint Peter in the present painting is positioned, with barely any variation to the Saint Peter in the Kunsthistorisches painting who is at the foot of the silvery spectral figure of Christ, while Saint Paul is instead shown kneeling and holding a large volume of the Gospels. In the background of the altarpiece, the emblematic Quo Vadis episode is represented in miniature: it is an invitation to pilgrims not to abandon their project of penitence. Indeed, the hostel was located at Milan’s Porta Romana and pilgrims could stay there for two days on their journey south towards the apostle’s tombs in Rome, and they could also visit and give thanks on their return journey. Hospitality was guaranteed by a Schola or lay-confraternity, founded by Bernabò Visconti and presided over by nine Nobili Deputati (see: Torre, op. cit.; C. P. Mezzanotte and G. C. Bascapè, Milano nell’arte e nella storia, Milano 1948, pp. 244-245).

The present painting may have been located in one of the rooms of this hostel. As such it would have served to remind the resting pilgrims of their promise to retrace the steps of the apostles. The institution was supressed in 1770 by Empress Maria Theresia and the church altarpiece was removed to Vienna after 1779. In 1776 it was still to be seen in its place (see F. Bartoli, Notizie delle Pitture, Sculture ed Architetture, VI,1776, p. 213).

Cerano was commissioned to execute the Kunsthistorisches Museum´s altarpiece in circa 1626-28. The present painting may have been commissioned and executed at about the same time. This work is therefore a ‘late Cerano […], arranged according to a most personal meditation on the baroque, made up of limber, aerial, compositional elements, and rich colour striations contained within an overall ochre tonality’ (see: J. Stoppa, Dall’Accademia di Federico Borromeo alla peste, in: il Cerano 1573-1632, Protagonista del Seicento lombardo, ed. by M. Rosci, Milan 2005, pp. 172-175, fig. 2, citation at p. 174). This skilled orchestration of figures and the full volume of the draperies demonstrate how Cerano was able to assimilate ‘the Rubensian revival advanced by his closest pupil and collaborator, van Dyck, at the outset of the 1620’s (see J. Stoppa, ibid. 2005). Here, as in the Kunsthistorisches Museum´s altarpiece, it is possible to see ‘the richness of the predominantly rose-brown impasto applied to the two saints’ (see M. Rosci, ibid., p. 263).