GIOVANNI BATTISTA LENARDI (Rome, 1656 - 1704) Preaching of St Peter Oil on canvas, 263.5X163.5 cm Biographical information on Lenardi is provided by the biographies of Francesco Maria Niccolò Gaburri and Abbot Lanzi, who say he was a pupil of Lazzaro Baldi (Cf. F. M. N. Gabburri, Lives of painters, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Pal. E. B. 9-5, III, pp. 1367, 1379; L. Lanzi, Storia pittorica della Italia, Bassano 1809, II, p. 217). The painter is known to us first and foremost for his graphic activity, which also includes the invention of frontispieces, celebratory apparatuses, decorations for carriages and table triumphs (cf. Marras 2020), while his pictorial production has yet to be investigated to a large extent. Yet, according to Lyons Pascoli, the artist was Baldi's best pupil, the only one worthy of mention (Cf. 8 L. Pascoli, Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti moderni, Roma 1730-1736, II, 1736, p. 161). In fact, the author's few certain works reveal a sustained quality, undoubtedly showing the influence of the master but also an elegant Cortonesque tenor and a cultured academic training, although in some cases earlier works are untimely in updating their language to the classicist temperament of the late 17th century. We perceive this aspect when observing the canvases depicting the Death of Marcus Junius Brutus and Scipio Returns his Wife to Luceo belonging to the Roman collection of Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, in which the Baroque dynamism of the Cortonesque matrix stands out. While a more 'modern' and Marattesque evolution of style can be perceived in the Seppellimento di Sant'Andrea conserved in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte and datable to around 1700, the style of which offers opportune points of comparison and chronological analogy with the canvas under examination (cf. Sestieri 1994). We thank Francesco Petrucci for the attribution of the painting on a photographic basis.