Signore Sebastiano Conca, Pittore Napoletano (Signore Sebastiano Conca, Neapolitan Painter)

1734/1755

Pier Leone Ghezzi

Associated Names
Pier Leone Ghezzi

Artist, Roman, 1674 - 1755

The image shows a person standing in a studio setting. The individual is in profile with a slight turn towards the viewer, engaged in painting at an easel. They have distinct facial features, aged yet expressive, and medium-length curly hair. They are dressed in formal attire typical of an artist of their era. The person holds a palette with brushes in one hand and is painting on a canvas. Nearby, an additional palette and set of brushes rest on a chair with an ornate cushion. The background features a canvas on an easel to the left with outlined artwork. The setting suggests an artistic environment with line work indicating an interior space.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink over black chalk on laid paper mounted on album page

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 31.6 x 21.5 cm (12 7/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
    support: 48 x 38 cm (18 7/8 x 14 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1975.30.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

From three volumes of caricatures probably executed in Rome at the court of Carlos, King of Naples between 1734 and 1755 who acceded the throne of Spain as Carlos III in 1759; by inheritance to Carlos IV, 1788-1808; Joseph Bonaparte [1768-1844], King of Naples and Spain,1808-1813; Marquis of Wellesley (later Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington), 1814. (Robert M. Light, Santa Barbara); purchased by NGA, 1975.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2000

  • Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2000, no. 356, repro.

2018

  • Sense of Humor: Caricature, Satire, and the Comical in Prints and Drawings from Leonardo to the Present, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018 - 2019.

Inscriptions

by later hand, across bottom in pen and brown ink: Il Sigre. Bastian Conca Pittore Napoletano [?]issimo il quale in atta dipingere / Sig.re Gio.Battista Conca Pittore Napoletano.

Wikidata ID

Q64619553

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