The Resurrection

The Resurrection, the only documented painting by Francesco Buoneri, was commissioned in 1619 by the Tuscan ambassador to Rome, Piero Guicciardini, as one of several altarpieces for his family's chapel in Florence. In a turn of events that was not uncommon in the rapidly evolving artistic scene of early-17th-century Rome, the painting was rejected by Guicciardini and sold to another collector. The Resurrection exaggerates the bold contrast of light and dark and the realistic treatment of sacred figures that Caravaggio had introduced into Roman painting. Buoneri was apparently one of Caravaggio's closest followers. He may have been the "boy Francesco" who assisted the painter during his last years in Rome, a personal connection suggested by his contemporary nickname, Cecco (for Francesco) del Caravaggio.