Martha and Mary

This earlier treatment of Martha and Mary, dated 1640 and now in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, represents Vaccaro's mid-career engagement with the subject before his later version. The Pushkin's acquisition of this canvas reflects the absorption of Italian Baroque works into Russian imperial collections during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when agents of Catherine the Great and subsequent tsars systematically purchased major European paintings. Vaccaro's 1640 canvas would have been painted at the height of his mature power, when his synthesis of Riberesque naturalism and Bolognese academic refinement was most fully realised. The subject's appeal lies in its compression of spiritual doctrine — the priority of contemplative love of God over active service — into an intimate domestic scene involving two women, making it suitable for private devotion as well as church settings.

The 1640 date suggests tighter, more precise brushwork than Vaccaro's later canvases — carefully blended flesh with smooth transitions, a more controlled chiaroscuro, and the characteristic warm ground of the Neapolitan school. Comparison with the 1670 version reveals the evolution of his handling over three decades.