« ‹ Amor omnia vincit › : new documents on an early work of Mattia Preti »

The study focuses on the large ‘Triumph of Love’, which was in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum from 1972 until 1992 when it was sold at auction as an early work of Mattia Pretti, dateable to the early 1640s. Art historians have, however, not been in agreement about the painting’s attribution: Luca Giordano, Andrea del Lione and Pietro Testa have all been put forward as possible authors, and the painting has so far been ignored in the literature on Preti. Thanks to archival discoveries, it is now possible not only to establish Preti’s authorship firmly, but also to identify the patron who commissioned the painting, the abate Antonia degli Effetti.