Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764) - Tomiri riceve la testa di Ciro

\Artist: Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764)
Technique: Oil on canvas\Signature: Not signed\Dimensions: 160_12_120_cm
Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta, 1680 – Naples, 1764) “Tomiri riceve la testa di Ciro” Oil on canvas, 123 x 95 cm. Size with frame: approx. 140 x 103 x 5 cm. Notes: With certificate of warranty and lawful origin. Online publication by the Neapolitan historian Achille della Ragione. Work with antique (?) golden frame (Defects) : Splendid antique painting, oil on canvas, from the 17th century, depicting Tomiri receiving the head of Cyrus and coming from an important private collection - Eredi di Marzo Capozzi, Tufo-Salza Irpina, Avellino - has been identified by the historian and national ancient painting market expert Federico Lemme, and subsequently confirmed by the well-known Neapolitan historian Achille della Ragione (with written and published form) as by the hand of the southern painter Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta, 1680 - Naples, 1764) . “ . . The painting (fig. 1) we will deal with in this article represents Tomiri, who lived in the sixth century BC, a queen of the Massageti, an Iranian people settled in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea, with the head of the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great at her side. He invaded her country to try to conquer it, but was captured and beheaded. The painting has long been owned by a noble family from Avellino and has recently passed into the collection of the famous antiquarian Andrea Maggio. In relation to this subject, there is another version attributed to Sebastiano Conca, kept in L'Aquila at the Cassa di Risparmio, of which there is a photo in the Photographic Archive of the Federico Zeri Foundation (fig. 2) . The version of L’Aquila differs from the painting discussed here because of an inscription inside the oval box and due to the smaller size. The drawing structure is of clear classicist derivation, the compositional scheme carried out according to the academic rules of the central rhythm, the elegant fineness of the details place this canvas as an emblematic testimony of its production of the highest quality. We now want to provide the reader with some biographical data of Sebastiano Conca, a painter to whom an exhaustive exhibition was dedicated a few decades ago in his native Gaeta. Sebastiano Conca was born in Gaeta in 1680 and died in the same city in 1764. Also called "Il cavaliere", he was the eldest of ten brothers. His father Erasmo dedicated himself to commerce and the second son Don Nicolò was archdeacon of the cathedral of Gaeta. Sebastiano attended the Neapolitan school of Francesco Solimena for over 15 years. From 1706 he moved to Rome with his brother Giovanni, where he joined Carlo Maratta and carried out a profitable activity as a fresco painter and altar artist until after 1750. In contact with the latter, his exuberant artistic style became partially moderated. In Rome, under the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni, he was introduced to Pope Clement XI, who assigned him the fresco depicting Jeremiah in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. For the painting he was rewarded by the pope with the title of knight and by the cardinal with a diamond cross. In 1710 he opened his own academy, the so-called Accademia del Nudo, which attracted many students from all over Europe, including Pompeo Batoni, the Sicilians Olivio Sozzi and Giuseppe Tresca and Carlo Maratta, and which served to spread his style throughout the continent. In 1729 he became part of the Accademia di San Luca and became its director from 1729 to 1731 and from 1739 to 1741. In August 1731, the painter was called to Siena to fresco the apse of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata, by the will of the rector of Santa Maria della Scala, Ugolino Billò. The work was finished in April 1732. With the "Probatica Piscina" (or "Piscina di Siloan") , Conca earned the widespread admiration of his contemporaries. In particular, the wide range of the work and the wise composition, faithful to the Gospel story and full of scrupulous details, were appreciated. He was later, among other things, in the service of the Savoy court, and worked at the oratory of San Filippo and the church of Santa Teresa in Turin. In 1739 he wrote a book titled Ammonimenti, containing moral and artistic precepts and dedicated to all young people who wanted to become painters. After his return to Naples in 1752, Conca moved from the classical experiences to the more grandiose canons of the late Baroque and Rococo and was inspired above all by the works of Luca Giordano. Thanks to the help of Vanvitelli, he received honours and assignments from Charles III of Bourbon and from the most powerful Neapolitan religious orders. His most demanding works of this last years have been destroyed, while numerous altarpieces from Naples remain, canvases sent to Sicily, the paintings executed for the Benedictines of Aversa (1761) and the Stories of San Francesco da Paola, carried out between 1762 and 1763 for the Friars Minor of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Pozzano in Castellammare. By royal decree he was raised to the rank of noble in 1757. The reasons for his sensational success can be recognised in his great ability to mediate the different artistic components of the century: that grandiloquent and grandiose scenography, learned over the years with Solimena, and the more measured and composed reforming classicism of Maratta. Conca's ability was therefore to know how to measure himself both with tradition and with the cautious novelties of the moment, dosing and strengthening the different and multiple components of the late Baroque language from time to time. Among his best students is Gaetano Lapis, also known as il Carraccetto. Sebastiano's nephew, the Roman Tommaso Conca, also had a fair amount of fame. Sebastiano Conca left countless works, which are estimated to be around 1200 pieces. (quote from Achille della Ragione, 2021) . With regard to its state of conservation, the work has a twentieth-century relining. The paint layer is extremely peeled with numerous and significant touch-ups. Numerous evident and scattered loss of colour can be noticed on the top part of the canvas. Two restoration lines on bottom left, and some restoration points at the bottom right edge. Canvas size: 123 x 95 cm. The painting is sold with a gilded frame (frame size: approx. 140 x 103 x 5 cm) . Origin: Private Collection - Eredi di Marzo Capozzi, Tufo-Salza Irpina, Avellino Publication: \t. Unpublished; \t. I MITI E IL TERRITORIO nella Sicilia dalle mille culture. INEDITA QUADRERIA general catalogue of the paintings in the collection of the cycle ‘I Miti e il territorio’, Editore Lab_04, Marsala, (now printing, 2021) . Supplied with certificate of warranty and certificate of lawful origin. The documents will be sent separately (after receiving payment from Catawiki via email) . We guarantee accurate packaging with outer wooden crate and inner bubble wrap / cardboard / polystyrene (packaging cost: approximately €180. 00) and tracked shipping (€120. 00 Italy) . For export, the work is subject to a new request for Certificate of Free Circulation (European Community) or Export Certificate (Extra-EU Transport) at the export office (Soprintendenza del Territorio) with additional times and costs (€500/€1. 000, all inclusive: shipping, packaging, and export documents) .