(Florence 1611–1698)
The Liberation of Saint Peter,
oil on canvas, 136 x 108 cm, framed

Provenance:
Belda Family (according to an inscription on the reverse);
with Galleria Moretti, Florence;
Almagià collection, Rome;
thence by descent to the present owner

Literature:
F. Baldassari, Pittori attivi in Toscana dal Trecento al Settecento, Florence 2001, pp. 152-157 (as Simone Pignoni);
R. Maffeis, Ritratto di Simone Pignoni, in Proporzioni, 5, 2004, p. 119, note 39 (as Simone Pignoni);
F. Baldassari, Simone Pignoni, Turin 2008, p. 129, no. 63, p. 66, pl. XVIII (as Simone Pignoni);
G. Cantelli, Repertorio della pittura fiorentina del seicento. Aggiornamento, Pontedera 2009, p. 162 (as workshop of Simone Pignoni)

This painting represents the Biblical episode recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-9), where after prison guards are put to sleep, an Angel frees Saint Peter, who had been incarcerated by the order of Herod on the night before his judgment by the people. The angel is shown at the moment when, with his right hand, he breaks the bonds binding Saint Peter’s legs, while with the other he offers him support to get up and escape. Breaking into the foreground from the indefinite darkness of the background, the two figures are the sole protagonists of the scene, illuminated by the warm light from the Angel’s halo.

This painting is a fine example of Simone Pignoni’s Florentine sensual style of painting. The work’s compositional elegance, full brushstrokes, and careful attention to the nuances of palette are characteristic of the artist, and were likely developed thanks to Pignoni’s youthful journey through Northern Italy. However, the diagonal construction of the composition is more typical of his mature productions dating to the 1660s.

Following an initial apprenticeship with Fabrizio Boschi and Domenico Passignano, Pignoni entered the studio of Francesco Furini, who was to influence his art profoundly. Indeed, in the present painting the sweet features of the Angel are derived from examples by Furini; similar physiognomic types occur in other paintings by Pignoni, such as the youth depicted in the Saint Thomas of Villanova giving alms to the poor, which was made between 1664 and 1665 for the church of Santa Verdiana in Castelfiorentino (see F. Baldassari, Simone Pignoni, Turin 2008, pp. 129-130, no. 64). Simone Pignoni became especially celebrated for his easel paintings made for private patrons representing highly sensual renderings of women. These gained him a reputation as one of the leading protagonists of the libertine current in Florence, which had been inaugurated by his master, Furini, during the 1620s. In addition to this, his particular ability to express the emotions of his various protagonists was specifically noted, and in the present painting this capacity is fully evident.