Luca Giordano, called Fa Presto

Dr. Miklos Kaldor, Budapest, by 1956;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

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. Although this painting is in need of some attention, the condition in many parts of the work is very respectable. The canvas has been lined with wax, which probably should be reversed since the paint layer is still slightly unstable and wax is not a healthy adhesive. The varnish in the male figure on the left has become quite opaque in many areas. The work is dirty but not unattractively so. Retouches are visible under ultraviolet light, and they address isolated losses throughout the picture. The retouches do not appear to contend with any major issues except in the fingers of the right hand of the male figure, in his right bicep, and in his left elbow. However, this is a picture that would greatly benefit from a complete reversal of its existing restoration with a better lining and more accurate retouching. If one looks at the condition in areas such as the female figure’s hands, it is very apparent that the work has great potential.
"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."

This previously unpublished painting by Luca Giordano has been dated by Giuseppe Scavizzi, on the basis of photographs to circa 1655 to 1660.  Another version of this mythical subject, now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, shows the figures in reverse, Circe to the left and Picus to the right.¹  Both early works belong to a series of paintings inspired by tales from Ovid's work Metamorphoses and date to the artist's most early, Riberesque period.  According to the myth, Picus, the first king of Latium, was married to the nymph, Canens and was renowned for his skill in augury, intepreting the gods' will through the flight of birds.  When pursued by Circe, Picus spurned the sorceress' advances and as punishment was transformed into a woodpecker.  Here, as Circe reaches for the object of her desire with an admonitory expression, he turns in flight, feathers already beginning to spring from his arms and wings unfolding behind him.  A woodpecker perches on a tree trunk beyond, a reminder of Picus' fate. 

We are grateful to Giuseppe Scavizzi for supporting an attribution of this work to Luca Giordano on the basis of photgraphs.

1.  O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, Luca Giordano, L'Opera Completa, Naples 1992, vol I and II, pp.266, 523, no. A104.a, reproduced fig. 180.