The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona presents The Conversion of Saint Paul, by Juan Bautista Maino, on view through 30th of September 2012.
The conversion of saint Paul. Juan Bautista Maino. © MNAC-Calveras/Mèrida
After a long process of research and restoration that was made possible thanks to sponsorship by BNP Paribas and its Foundation, experts at the museum have managed to identify The Conversion of Saint Paul as one of the few surviving works by the painter from Pastrana Juan Bautista Maíno, one of the people responsible for the introduction to Spain of the figurative art of Caravaggio and the circle of painters active in Rome in the early 17th century.
The Conversion of Saint Paul is being exhibited in a room of its own, along with a preliminary painting from a private collection, an X-ray showing its condition before the intervention and a video detailing the process by which the canvas was restored.
The Conversion of Saint Paul entered the former Museu d’Art de Catalunya following its acquisition in 1952 and now that its authorship has been confirmed it will join the catalogue of works by Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649). Another of the 44 works by this painter, the Portrait of Fray Alonso de Santo Tomás, currently exhibited in the Museum’s Baroque art rooms, already forms part of the MNAC’s collections.
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya Palau Nacional. Parc de Montjuïc 08038 Barcelona