Saint Benedict Enthroned between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Luke

In 1562 Luca Spinola commissioned Cambiaso to decorate his family’s chapel in the church of Santa Caterina dei Monaci. The one element to survive the church’s demolition in the 19th century is the altarpiece, which was transferred to Genoa’s cathedral. This drawing, identical in style to the Persephone, is an early design for the altarpiece, establishing the basic format and distribution of ele-ments but preceding changes in each figure’s attitude and the elimination of the monk in the foreground. Possibly an autographed replica (Jonathan Bober 5/13/11)