price: U.S. $4,500

Neopolitan

17th/18th Century

Alexander Defending Iado and the Hebrew People

black chalk underdrawing, pen & brown ink, brush & grey wash. verso: only black chalk. 8 x 73/4" (200 x 200 mm) irregularly shaped. inscribed by the artist: Alessandro defende Iado et il popolo hebraio, contro Parmenione suo grand generale, contandoli il sognio hanuto di ? in Macedonia.

provenance:
by descent to private collection, Boston area

Much work remains to be done in the overlooked field of Neopolitan 18th century drawings. Apart from Solimena who dominated the artistic culture, few painters have been studied methodically, even well-known and prolific ones like Francesco de Mura and Paolo de Matteis. And virtually nothing is understood of their graphic oeuvre. Their lesser known contemporaries like Cestaro have had the same drawings given to them and then to several other artists; in short, what little is published is unreliable. Only Fischetti and dal Mondo have such distinctive styles that their drawings are easily identifiable. Not even Giaquinto's early, Neopolitan work has been sorted out.

Consequently, one hopes a drawing's esoteric subject or fanciful format, such as the present drawing, can be connected to a fresco or painted version of a known authorship. But that is also unlikely because many of Naples' palazzi are in private hands and in use and their artwork unpublished. One hopes then for new research of a monographic variety will reveal the author of this typically vigorous Neopolitan baroque drawing.