Aniello Falcone

(Naples 1607–1656)
Battle Scene,
oil on canvas, tondo, diam. 148 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Milan

Literature:
G. Sestieri, I Pittori di Battaglie. Maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo, Rome 1999, pp. 337-338, p. 90, pl. IV, p. 344, fig. 10

In the present tondo a battle scene between Turks and Christians is represented: it is an entirely characteristic production of the Neapolitan artist Aniello Falcone who specialised in this genre of painting.

The group of three cavaliers on horseback to the right of the painting notably reoccur in other works by the artist that are datable to the mid-1630s, and therefore to an early phase in the artist’s career. Indeed, the present painting is marked by an impression of great realism that derives from the artist’s knowledge of work by the Northern Italianate painters called the Bamboccianti: here however Falcone renders this approach in an entirely personal manner aiming to involve the spectator in the scene represented.

Aniello Falcone was able to renew the mannerist tradition of battle scene painting by instilling it with naturalistic effect, thereby renovating a type of representation that previously only served commemorative ends. The artist was to remain faithful to this approach even in the more classical works of his maturity. Crucial aspects of his development included his training with Jusepe de Ribera and the influence of painters such as Pieter Van Laer, Michelangelo Cerquozzi as well as the Roman works of Diego Velazquez. His particular interest in painting battle scenes earned him the epithet of ‘oracolo delle battaglie’ [‘oracle of the battle scenes’]; his production became a key point of reference for the next generation of Neapolitan painters including Salvator Rosa.