Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta, 1680 - Naples, 1764) circle of
The Adoration of the Shepherds
oil on oval canvas, (cm): 122 x 99, within a frame
Full details: www.antichitacastelbarco.it
The pleasant painting offered, executed in oil on canvas in an oval format, is one of the re-editions of a painting by Sebastiano Conca created around 1710 for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (now housed at the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles), which was very successful in the early eighteenth century (see details).
Link to the museum's work: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/671/sebastiano-conca-the-adoration-of-the-shepherds-ital...
The work, which depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds, is striking, not only for its large size but also for the strong scenographic sense of its evocative nocturnal setting. The overall effect is spectacular, with a pleasing play of light emanating from the Child, the compositional focal point, and gradually fading as it reaches the more distant figures.
Some paintings with the same subject or slight variations have been presented at international auctions with considerable estimates.
In terms of composition and construction, it is inspired by a Neapolitan painting by Guido Reni (housed at the Certosa di S. Martino), which Conca certainly studied during his early training in Naples in Francesco Solimena's studio.
He later founded a workshop in Rome, where his pictorial style developed in the direction of a Neoclassical late Baroque.
Late Baroque characteristics of the painting are the illusionistic effect of the perspective and, above all, the scenographic and theatrical representation of the theme. However, the masterful use of chiaroscuro with the high expressiveness of the subjects are elements characteristic of Neoclassicism.
The reasons for his resounding success can be found in the painter's great ability to act as an eclectic mediator of the various components developed during the 17th century: the scenographic, magniloquent, and grand style, of Giordanesque heritage, learned during his years as a student and collaborator with Solimena, and the more measured composition of Maratta's reformist classicism, which he could access more directly when he moved to Rome.
Conca's skill, therefore, lay in his ability to measure himself against both tradition and the cautious innovations of the time, dosing and enhancing the various and multiple components of the late Baroque language from time to time.
STATE OF CONSERVATION:
The canvas, in a good state of conservation, is accompanied by an ivory-colored lacquered frame.
The work is sold with a legally compliant photographic certificate of authenticity.
