DESCRIPTION
The signature “B. Chasse” with his first name indicated only by the dotted B is also found, as in this painting, in his ‘Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Francis’ now in the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence.
His Neapolitan origin, attested to by the marriage certificate of 1689, is confirmed by the realism derived mainly from Ribera, which can also be seen in this painting in the representation of the skull held by Mary Magdalen and in the presentation of the Saint clothed in woven straw. The Neapolitan origin of the painter is also apparent in the fish depicted in the ‘Fishing Miracle’ painted for the church of San Lorenzo in Marseille, clearly inspired by the still-life paintings of the Recco family.
LITERATURE
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