The painting, probably cropped, is in fact a Neapolitan work. Its features of robust realism are directly indebted to José de Ribera’s elderly models, developed from the 1630s onwards (and, moreover, not dissimilar to those of the mature Reni). Nevertheless, the earthy chromatism of the painting’s impasto as well as its volumetric construction –noting its distinct foreshortening of the subj