The Story
Saints Peter and Paul by Bartolomeo Manfredi. Bequest of Alexis Gregory, 2020
Created in 1629 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the religion & mythology tradition. Bartolomeo Manfredi worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Oil on canvas, measuring 21 7/8 × 28 1/4 in. (55.6 × 71.8 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Bartolomeo Manfredi builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
