Sebastiano Conca
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Sebastiano Conca (8 January 1680 – 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter.


Biography

He was born at
Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...
, then part of the
Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...
, and apprenticed in Naples under
Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of Avellino. H ...
. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, who acted as his assistant, he settled in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, where for several years he worked only in chalk, to improve his drawing. He was patronized by the Cardinal Ottoboni, who introduced him to Clement XI, who commissioned him a well-received ''Jeremiah'' painted for the church of St. John Lateran. He also painted an ''Assunta'' for the church of Santi Luca e Martina in Rome. Conca was knighted by the pope. He collaborated with Carlo Maratta in the ''Coronation of Santa Cecilia'' (1721–24) in the namesake church of
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century Churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rioni of Rome, rione. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia (early 3rd century AD) and serves as the conventual church for the adja ...
. In 1718 he was elected to the
Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...
, and was its director in 1729–1731, replacing Camillo Rusconi as ''Principe'' in 1732. He was also elected Principe in 1739–1741. His painting was strongly influenced by the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
painter Luca Giordano. Among Conca's pupils there were Pompeo Battoni, Andrea Casali, Placido Campoli, Corrado Giaquinto, Gregorio Giusti, Gaetano Lapis, Salvatore Monosilio, Litterio Paladini, Francesco Preziao, Rosalba Maria Salvioni, Gasparo Serenari, Agostino Masucci, Domenico Giomi, and the Bavarian religious painter Franz Georg Hermann. Sebastiano's brother, Giovanni Conca (died in 1764), painted the main altarpiece of the ''Madonna of the Rosary and St Dominic'' for the church of San Domenico, Urbino. He received widespread official acclaim and patronage. He worked for a period of time for the
Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
family in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
on the Oratory of San Filippo and Santa Teresa, in the Venaria (1721–1725), for Basilica di Superga (1726), and Royal Palace (1733). He painted the frescoes of ''Probatica'' (Pool of Siloam), in the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala (hospital) of
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
. In
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, he painted the large allegorical canvases of the Palazzo Lomellini-Doria (1738–1740). In 1739, he published a guide to painting: ''Ammonimenti'' (or Admonishments), which blended moralistic advice with technique. He returned to
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in 1752, and enjoyed the royal patronage of
Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
. His studio was prodigious and he painted frescoes for the Church of Santa Chiara (1752–1754), five canvases for the Chapel in Caserta Palace (now lost), as well as many others including for the Benedictines of
Aversa Aversa () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical dome ...
(1761), a ''History of Saint Francis of Paola'' for the Sanctuary of Saint Maria di Pozzano of Castellammare di Stabia (1762–1763), and many other altarpieces. He died in Naples on 1 September 1764. Among the works that reflect his late-
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style there are paintings such as ''The Vision of Aeneas in the Elysian Fields'' (c. 1735/1740); the scene is crowded with mythologic and classical figures, adrift in academic quotation, and enveloped by a world of overwrought with allegory. Dancing or flying putti proliferate. The landscape is often a billowing cloud. Even in a more intimate scene such as ''Rinaldo & Armida'', instead of depicting the focused scene between two lovers, love itself has to be allegorized as an intruding, hovering cupid. Similarly, the somber introspection of the moment recounted by ''Christ at the Garden of Gesthmane'' is afflicted with a cascade of angels. Christ at the Garden of Gesthemane
at Vactican pinacoteca. It is a
mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
Baroque, not its distilled apotheosis, but a distanced elaboration from its roots in Carracci and
Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan language, Etr ...
.


Notes


References

*


See also

*
Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of Avellino. H ...
*
Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...
* Jacopo Zoboli


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conca, Sebastiano 1680 births 1764 deaths People from Gaeta Painters from Lazio 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Painters from Naples Italian Baroque painters Fresco painters Catholic painters 18th-century Italian male artists