Sebastiano Conca

Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1676–1764 Naples) Madonna in the glory, with a praying pope, a kneeling monarch and crowd of people, pen and brown ink, watercolor, over traces of pencil, on firm laid paper, 27,4 x 20,6 cm, browned, foxing, mounted, unframed, (Sch) Provenance: Private collection, Italy. With a certificate of Prof. Donatella Biagi Maino. Comparative Literature: A. E. Pèrez Sànchez, I grandi disegni italiani nelle collezioni di Madrid, Milan 1977, p. 260; M. B. Mena Marqués, Museo del Prado. Catalogo de Dibujos, VII, Dibujos Italianos del Siglo XVIII, Madrid 1990, p. 49. According to Prof. Biagi Maino the present study is stylistically comparable with two drawings by Sebastiano Conca in the Museo del Prado: Saint Anne teaching young Mary (Inv. F. D.1.554) and a study for „The dream of Saint Joseph“ (Inv. F. D.1.550). Both sheets show a similar brush stroke with emphasis on the contour lines of the figures and a lively and fluid coloring, which are characteristic for the Roman formation of the artist and the influence of the Rococo-style on him.

LOT 35 SEBASTIANO CONCA GAETA 1680 - 1764 NAPLES VENUS AT THE FORGE OF VULCAN Pen and brown and black ink and brown wash, heightened with white, over black chalk, on paper washed light brown. Two small sketches on the verso in pen and brown ink: a putto and a bird. Circular. Diameter: 438 mm

Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680-1764 Naples) Jacob and Rachel at the well signed 'Sebast.Conca f.' (lower center). oil on canvas 29¼ x 38 7/8 in. (74.3 x 98.7 cm.) Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 11 January 1996, lot 127 ($32,000). Anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, 25 May 2005, lot 251 ($72,000). The artist's signature, visible at the foot of the well, indicates that this painting was executed in 1729; the same year that the artist received the cross of the Order of the Golden Spur, an event that is often recorded in his signature by the presence of the titles 'cavaliere' or 'eques'. Stylistically, this painting is consistent with Conca's oeuvre during this period, as exemplified by works such as The Miracle of Saint Turibius, now in the Vatican Museums (dated 1726) and The Departure of Rinaldo in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Perugia (dated 1731; see G. Sestieri, in Sebastiano Conca, exhibition catalogue, Gaeta, 1981, nos. 33a and 48). The pose of Rachel is almost identical with the figure of the Samaritan in Christ and the Woman of Samaria from the Lemme collection, for which Sestieri proposes a date as early as the second decade of the 17th century (Sestieri, op. cit., no. 15). The warm tonalities and the thick impasto still echo the works executed by Conca after 1707, when he had just arrived in Rome, such as the Allegories in the Galleria Spada and the Adoration of the Magi in the Galleria Corsini. However, the bright palette used for the drapery of Jacob and Rachel suggest that Conca was already familiar with the works of Corrado Giaquinto, who only arrived in Rome after 1727, and with whom Conca had worked in the studio of Francesco Solimena in Naples. The theatrical structure of the composition is also characteristic of Conca's production from the early 17th century. Key in this aspect must have been the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who cultivated a keen interest in the music and theatre of his age. We are grateful to Mario Epifani for his assistance in cataloguing this painting.

Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680–1764 Naples) The Annunciation, oil on canvas, 96 x 48.5 cm, framed We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Sestieri for confirming that this is an autograph work by the artist. The present painting is a variation of a work by Conca in the Chapel of Santissima Annunciata in Sessa Aurunco. There are further versions in the Harris Collection and the Spark Collection, New York (see the photographs of these paintings in the Fondazione Zeri, Bologna). Sebastiano Conca was apprenticed to Francesco Solimena‘s workshop. He later founded his own workshop in Rome where he continued to develop his painting in the late Baroque style. This style, also referred to as Roman classicism, was a counter movement to the frivolous Rococo. In 1719 Conca was appointed a member of Rome’’’’s Accademia di San Luca. He painted frescoes for Pope Clemens XI in San Giovanni in Laterano and in San Clemente. From 1721 to 1725 Conca worked for the Royal Sardinian court in Turin. He is regarded as the most important representative of early classicism outside Rome in the 18th Century.

Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680 – 1764 Naples) The Madonna and Child, oil on canvas, 42.5 x 32.5 cm, framed Conca painted numerous pictures of the Virgin and Child, varying the usual pyramidal scheme. The present painting can be compared to a similar painting of the same subject in Sora, the Church of San Bartolomeo (see Sebastiano Conca, exh. Cat; p.204, cat. No. 59, ill.). The compostion is also closely related to a group of paintings connected to the Madonna del Rosario di Napoli. The present painting also displays the influence of the work of Pompeo Batoni with its shining bright tones Sebastiano Conca mainly worked on the theme of the Madonna with Child, and was possibly a pupil of Luca Giordano, however the only teacher who can be assigned to him with certainly is Francesco Solimena. In 1706/7 he moved to Rome where he was inspired by the art of Michelangelo, Raphael, and the Carracci, and developed a greater classicism under the influence of Carlo Maratti. Conca’’’’s style attracted intellectuals like Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and won the favour of the Roman Curia. From 1729 to 1732 Conca was Principe of the Accademia di San Luca. We are grateful to Professor Riccardo Lattuada for confirming the attribution.