Appearance of Saint Peter to Saints Lucy and Agatha

Individualistic, largely self-taught, and indifferent to the prevailing currents, Cades was the most original painter in late 18th-century Rome. His works are characterized by an evocation of much earlier painting, from the Florentine Mannerists to the Carracci, an uninhibited inventiveness, and a visionary streak that runs toward Fussli and his circle. Brilliant and equally self-styled as a draftsman, Cades was known for a “dangerous” ability to imitate masters of the past. The authorship of this drawing is unmistakable in its exalted references to Veronese, generalized shapes, and Neoclassical typologies. Newly recognized are its novel subject and destination as a major altarpiece for the Duomo at Ascoli Piceno, now in the Pinacoteca Civica.