A definitely unusual work of absolute originality and extraordinary power by Luca Giordano representing a personal homage on the part of the artist to Caravaggio, especially to his Flagellation in the Church of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. Caravaggio is an indispensable model and source of inspiration to him, but in this same painting one can also detect traces of Velazquez, Rubens and Rembrandt. In his work Giordano always clearly manifests his debt to the great masters who represent a model for him: from Ribera to Caravaggio, from Mattia Preti to Pietro da Cortona, from Tiziano to Guido Reni, from Rubens to Velazquez. His greatness lies precisely in this ability to absorb and independently rework the characteristic hallmarks of the works of the masters. The attribution is confirmed by Giuseppe Scavizzi in a private letter, as well as by Vincenzo Pacelli in his publication of previously unpublished works by Giordano. Here he seems to have moved beyond the more clearly Riberesque phase of the early 50’s, already moving in the direction of a more sophisticated and intimate post-naturalism, a development marked by a physical dissolution of the brushstrokes, dense but quick, which would become a hallmark of his mature work. But he hasn’t yet reached the most baroque phase. The meticulousness and clarity are beginning to dissolve in the color, but the outlines are still clean and precise.