Italian school circa 1600, entourage of Scipione PULZONE da - Lot 357

Italian school circa 1600, entourage of Scipione PULZONE da Gaeta (1544-1598). Saint Praxedes of Rome. Canvas. H_128.5 cm L_102 cm. Scipione Pulzone created this composition, of which several versions are known (Castrojeriz (Burgos), Museo de la Colegiata; Muzeum Narodowe, Warsaw (186219 MNW as Luca Cambiaso); in the Norfolk Museum of Arts & Sciences, Norfolk; in private collections in Paris and Naples, another for sale in Naples, Blindarte, in 2017). A young patrician and daughter of the senator Pudentius, Praxedes was the sister of Saint Pudentienne. Converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul, she is said to have hidden many persecuted Christians in her house, but once discovered, they were arrested. discovered, they were arrested and condemned to death by Emperor Antoninus the Pious. In the usual iconography, she is depicted collecting the blood of the martyrs with a sponge, in order to preserve it as relics. Expert : Mr. Stéphane PINTA, Cabinet Turquin