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Raphael must therefore have represented a very early and sustained stimulus for Genga during the phase that Vasari describes as their shared attendance at Perugino’s workshop (Fig. 1). Regardless of the precise circumstances of this association, its impact is clearly discernible in the surviving works: in Raphael’s case, from the few graphic and pictorial documents dating to the closing years of the fifteenth century; in Genga’s, from the poorly documented period of his return to Urbino after his experience alongside Signorelli at Monte Oliveto and later in Orvieto, roughly between 1502 and 1504. During these years, Girolamo appears to have benefited from a more sustained and stylistically verifiable - albeit not concretely documented - engagement with Perugino, as well as from the powerful stimulus provided by the earliest works of the very young Raphael.

In this work, Genga’s personal stylistic development finds its fullest expression through close engagement with experiences characteristic of Raphael, at a moment animated by Pinturicchio’s inventive brilliance yet marked by a pronounced sensitivity to Peruginesque models. It was precisely this strong inflection, particularly evident in the treatment of the pavement, that led, although cautiously, to the tentative attribution to Eusebio. At the same time, the composition reveals a convergence of elements, overlaps, and visual suggestions deriving from multiple sources; it is this very singular amalgamation that ultimately argues in favour of Genga’s authorship, a conclusion further reinforced by the typology of the saint, with his sullen, faintly unattractive demeanour, unmistakably recalling Signorelli.

A full fact sheet is available on request.