Artwork
Saints Vincent Ferrer, Peter Martyr and Raymond of Peñafort
The re-discovery of this powerful and monumental painting is one of the most impressive recent additions to Mattia Preti’s oeuvre. Important find are also the specifics of its Dominican iconography, St Vincent Ferrer, St Peter Martyr and St Raymond of Peñafort, three of the foremost protagonists of the early history of the Dominican Order. The ‘notable’ absence of St Dominic in this picture indicates that he must have been ‘present’ in a separate space within the original building that the painting was placed in.
Fascinating are the connections with an important Neapolitan noble family, with strong ties in Malta, such as the Spinelli, since a painting of the same subject and size is precisely described in the «Galleria» of their palace in Piazza Pontecorvo in Naples in 1732.
1732
Francesco Carlo Spinelli, Prince of Tarsia (1668–1732), described in his Palazzo in Piazza Pontecorvo, Naples, in 1732: «Un quadro di tre santi domenicani di palmi 8 e 12, mano del cavaliere Mattia Preti calabrese, cornice negra ed oro intagliata».
By 1872
Garden Duff-Dunbar of Hempriggs and Ackergill (1838-1889), by 1872.
After 1889
by descent at Ackergill Tower, Caithness.
2023
until sold at Christie’s, London, 7 December 2023, lot 24.
2025
London, with Lullo Pampoulides, where acquired (2025) by the present owner as a bequest to the Gaudium Magnum Foundation, Lisbon.
Scholars &
Contributors
How to cite:
K. Sciberras, Mattia Preti. Saints Vincent Ferrer, Peter Martyr and Raymond of Peñafort, in Gaudium Magnum Foundation. The Painting Collection, ed. V. Rossi, with T. Borgogelli and A. Marengo, Lisbon 2026.
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