Archive documents mention a “Maestro Jacopo” as the artist who produced three big paintings in the church of Santa Maria in Aquiro in Rome. They represent The Crowning With the Crown of Thorns, The Flagellation and The Lamentation. They were first attributed to Gerrit van Honthorst (1590–1656), then to Trophime Bigot (1579–1649?) of Arles in France; around these paintings critics have grouped a number of stylistically fairly homogenous pictures which reveal quite close links with Honthorst, Matthias Stomer and Georges de La Tour, while at the same time influences of Carlo Saraceni and Bartolomeo Manfredi can also be seen. Characteristic of the paintings of “Maestro Jacopo” are strong contrasts of light and shade, which are created by candles and lamps; these cast a strong light on the figures, which stand out clearly from a dark background without any architectural or landscape detail.
Lit.: Benedict Nicolson: Caravaggism in Europe, Second Revised Edition (Luisa Vertova), Vol. 1-3, Torino 1990, Vol. I, pp. 59-64, fig. in Vol. II.