Aniello Falcone

Don Gaspar Méndez de Haro y Guzman (1629-1687), 7th Marqués del Carpio and Viceroy of Naples 1682-1687 (on his album page, numbered 71, then corrected by another hand to 67 and inscribed: Falcone à Pozzolo); 
sale, London, Christie's, 20 March 1973, lot 30;
Mr and Mrs Hans Calmann;
sale, London, Christie's, 7 July 1981, lot 74;
sale, London, Sotheby's, 2 July 1997, lot 27

Laid down on the old album page, glue stains all around the margins and a tear on the lower right towards the lower section. Some purple stains towards the right margin. Paper slightly buckled. Sold in a modern gilded frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This drawing was part of an album of drawings assembled by the Marqués del Carpio and partially intact until 1973, when the remaining forty-five Neapolitan drawings from an original of at least ninety-six, were dispersed at auction.¹  Only ten landscape drawings by Falcone are known, four of which, with the same provenance, were exhibited in the 1984 exhibition Civiltá del Seicento a Napoli.²  As pointed out by Julien Stock in that exhibition catalogue, these drawings were executed from life and then used as a source of inspiration for the backgrounds in Falcone's paintings.  They are all, like the present example, in red chalk, except for the sheet now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.³

1.  See S. Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, 'Additions to the Drawings Collection of the Marqués del Carpio', in Master Drawings, vol. XLVI, no. 1, 2008, p. 5 and note 16

2.  Civiltá del Seicento a Napoli, exhibition catalogue, Naples, Capodimonte, 1984, vol. II, cat. nos. 3.27-3.30

3.  J. Bean, 17th Century Italian Drawings..., New York 1979, p. 129, no. 163, reproduced