The Martyrdom of Saint Gennaro

Mattia Preti (1613-1699), called Il Cavalier Calabrese, was a Calabrian painter who worked in Naples, Malta, and Rome, known for the dramatic chiaroscuro and emotional intensity that distinguish his religious paintings. The Martyrdom of Saint Gennaro from c. 1685 depicts the martyrdom of Saint Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, in the dramatic, emotionally intense manner that distinguishes Preti's best religious painting. The c. 1685 date places this in Preti's Neapolitan period, when he was producing the dramatic religious paintings that influenced the development of Neapolitan Baroque painting.

The Martyrdom of Saint Gennaro is important in the history of Neapolitan Baroque painting because it demonstrates the dramatic chiaroscuro and emotional intensity that Preti brought to Neapolitan religious painting. Preti's influence on Neapolitan painting was profound, and the dramatic chiaroscuro of this martyrdom scene would influence the Neapolitan tradition of emotionally intense religious painting that led to Solimena and the later Neapolitan Baroque.

The Martyrdom of Saint Gennaro is Preti's Neapolitan Baroque drama: the patron saint of Naples in the dramatic chiaroscuro and emotional intensity that distinguish his best religious painting. The c. 1685 painting shows Preti at his most theatrically intense, producing the type of emotionally charged religious painting that would influence the Neapolitan Baroque tradition.