STEFANO POZZI (Rome, 1699 - 1768) Ascension of a Jesuit Father or Saint Philip Benizi? Oil on canvas, 174.5X124 cm Bibliography: Zeri Archives, no. 61678 (as Stefano Pozzi; attribution by Stefano Susinno) As indicated by Federico Zeri, the canvas was attributed to Stefano Pozzi by Susinno and its state of conservation allows us to appreciate its high quality. The artist, in fact, cannot be judged as a simple exponent of the post-Marattesque current, but a figure capable of combining classicism with late Baroque and rocaille tendencies. We can perceive this expressive propensity in the work under scrutiny, which manifests a skilful inventiveness, revealing a highly personal interpretation of Roman rococo. In fact, after his apprenticeship with Andrea Procaccini and Agostino Masucci (Michel, 1996, p. 23), the author benefited from numerous public commissions at an early age, such as the two paintings for the church of San Noberto, the altarpiece for the oratory of the Collegio dei Premostratensi, not to mention the works destined for churches in Lazio and Umbria (A. Costamagna, L'arte dei Papi e per Principi nella campagna romana-grande pittura del 600 e del 700, no. 53, pp. 146-147, Rome 1990) and the commissions he obtained in Naples, which allowed him, between 1736 and 1747, the appointments of Academician of Merit of St. Luke's and second 'officer' of the Confraternita dei Virtuosi al Pantheon. Reference bibliography: M. B. Guerrieri Borsoi, L'attività di Stefano e Giuseppe Pozzi nella Basilica di San Pietro, in Studi romani, year XXXIX, 1991, pp. 252-266 A. Pacia, Stefano Pozzi decoratore a Palazzo Sciarra e Palazzo Colonna, in Bollettino d'arte, year LXXVII, series VI, no. 76, November-December 1992, pp. 71-94. G. Michel, A. Pacia, S. Susinno, Stefano Pozzi, in I Pittori Bergamaschi, Il Settecento, IV, pp. 21-233 G. Michel, Stefano Pozzi. La Vita. Regesto, ibid, pp. 41-42; 52; 58