Attributed to Pier Francesco Mola Coldrerio 1612 - 1666 Rome

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Description

Pier Francesco Mola
A bearded saint or prophet in a landscape, probably Saint Jerome
inscribed in a later hand upper left: OPVS MAG LANFRANCHI.F./DON./FRANCISCVS II.REX.N./S. and on the reverse of the old relining canvas: B./Lanfranco/Prov. GAL. REALE/NAPOLI
oil on canvas

Provenance

Francesco II di Borbone, Naples (1836 - 1894).

Catalogue Note

According to the inscriptions on the front and reverse of the relining canvas, this painting once belonged to the collection of Francesco II di Borbone (1836 - 1894) the last King of Naples. The inscription on the reverse also indicates that it once hung in the Galleria Reale (presumably at Palazzo Reale) in Naples. Indeed the canvas has what appears to be a Neapolitan weave and the picture was therefore most probably painted in that city. The Palazzo Reale was designed by Domenico Fontana and work on it began in 1600, upon the order of the Bourbon king Carlo III. Construction was to last more than fifty years and the building as we see it today has been subjected to numerous interventions over the centuries (the façade and cortile alone appear as they were originally built). From 1734 the building was the residence of the Bourbons.