Lot 59
  • 59

Giovan Francesco de Rosa, called Pacecco de Rosa

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
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Description

  • Giovan Francesco de Rosa, called Pacecco de Rosa
  • Venus and Adonis
  • oil on canvas

Provenance

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, December 15, 1982, lot 83, where purchased by the present collector.

Literature

N. Spinosa, La Pittura napoletano del '600, Milan 1984, fig. 273.

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This interesting picture presents a very attractive possibility, yet there is a fair amount of conservation which should be done to bring its beautiful image to the right level. The canvas is lined and the paint layer is stable. The lining has been applied with glue and although there is a dent above the figure of the man and a fairly large sunken fill in the upper center, the lining is reasonably sufficient and may be maintained. The paint layer is more or less clean, yet the retouches have discolored and blanched and they are mostly visible, particularly in the figures. There is a good deal of abrasion to the paint layer, but there is a stout element to the technique which has withstood much of this abrasion. Even though this painting represents a significant project for a restorer, one should consider that if it were to be cleaned and retouched accurately, this picture would improve immeasurably.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

The story of Venus and Adonis is most famously told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book X: 503-739.  Here Pacecco de Rosa chooses a quiet, peaceful moment from the story: the two lovers sit under the shade of a poplar tree, Venus' head resting on her lover's breast, and they are surrounded by each of their attributes: the doves of Venus, the hunting dog of Adonis, and playful putti.  Only the downward and melancholy gaze of Adonis towards his hound hints at his impending death.

Pacecco de Rosa was the son of the painter Tommaso de Rosa and trained with his stepfather, the Caravaggesque painter Filippo Vitale, with whom he was associated until Vitale's death in 1650.  Pacceco continued his studies under Massimo Stanzione, whose classical style was of tremendous importance to the development of his art.    He was Stanzione's most talented pupil and in this work we see the strong influence of his master in the treatment of the figures and the handling of the composition.  Pacecco's masterpiece The Massacre of the Innocents in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with its bright palette and attention to detail, also strongly betrays the influence of his master's work from the 1630s.  Pacecco's elegant secular paintings were highly valued by the nobility and he also received several important ecclesiastical commissions including his Annunciation in San Gregorio Armeno, Naples and his Deposition in Nunziatella, Naples .