The Martyrdom of the Blessed Signoretto Alliata

Signoretto Alliata (1269‒1340s) was a nobleman of Pisa who lived in Sicily where he volunteered in its hospitals. Later in life he became a hermit, living in seclusion on an isolated stretch on the shore. According to legend, he was murdered by a band of Muslim North African pirates. Such pirates had a long history of raiding small coastal communities of Italy and Spain, enslaving or killing many. Viewers of the time would recognize the pirates as Muslims by their turbans. Thus the message focuses on a Christian blessed man dying for his faith at the hands of infidels (unbelievers). Alliata’s luminous pale body and drapery would then be intended to suggest purity while angels hand him the crown of martyrdom.
This loosely painted scene was a preparatory version for a large painting commissioned for the cathedral of Pisa by Count Tommaso Alliata Campiglia, who wanted to honor his holy ancestor.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Galleria des Monte di Pietà, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [no. 1602]; Cassa dei Depositi e Prestiti, Rome [date and mode of acquistion unknown]; Cassa dei Depositi e Prestiti Sale, Rome, November 30, 1875, no. 65 [as Cades]; Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquistion unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 431, as a study of a painting in Venice representing St. Luke by Tiepolo]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.