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The attribution of our Saint John the Baptist to Giovanni Antonio Galli has been confirmed by Mr. Stefano Causa, Professor at the University of Naples and Curator of the exhibition "Beyond Caravaggio" (Naples, March 2022).
In his certificate, Stefano Causa provides an in-depth comparative study of the correspondences between our painting and the recognized works of Spadarino.
The scope of Spadarino's work is poorly defined: "In 1943, Longhi reclaimed Spadarino's reputation from the void into which it had sunk over the years, reconstructing a core of five works based on a series of comparisons with the only canvas documented as being by him, the one depicting Saints Valeria and Martial, now housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in the Chapter House
The famous Narcissus in the Palazzo Berberini in Rome has been the subject of intense controversy for a century. Pietro Longhi identified it as a work by Caravaggio as early as 1913, but "the attribution to Spadarino is the one that has recently gained the most credibility among art historians. Gianni Papi, in attributing the Narcissus to Spadarino, noted that one must take into account the fact that in the mid-17th century, there was a tendency to very readily attribute works to Caravaggio that were not his, either out of self-interest or simply by mistake. Our painting, relined in 1945, is quite worn, with some damage and losses restored. A 5 cm vertical strip has been added on the left, giving the impression that the existing painting is the right-hand portion of a larger composition.
Nevertheless, it remains an irreplaceable document for the study and documentation of Giovanni Antonio Galli dito Lo Spadarino
