FERRARI, Giovanni Andrea de
(b. ca. 1598, Genova, d. 1669, Genova)

Martha and Mary Magdalene

1625-30
Oil on canvas, 125 x 90 cm
Private collection

In composition and overall approach to subject matter Giovanni Andrea appears to have been influenced by Caravaggio's canvas of the same subject. However, while Caravaggio's composition is underpinned by a complex visual and literal tradition associated with this subject, Giovanni Andrea's interpretation appears to be more closely associated with allegorical genre scenes by Venetian masters, such as Titian or Palma Vecchio. Such influence could only have been transmuted into Giovanni Andrea's work through his most influential master, Bernardo Strozzi. Several borrowings from Strozzi are apparent in the present work.