33 - From the circle of ANTONIO DE BELLIS

From the circle of ANTONIO DE BELLIS (Active in Naples, 1630–1656) Saint Lawrence Oil on canvas, 151 x 96 cm Notes: Work with a contemporary carved, gilded, and black-lacquered wooden frame (with some defects) We present in this catalog an interesting oil painting on canvas, from a noble Sicilian family, depicting Saint Lawrence, one of the most distinct and recognizable figures in sacred art, closely linked to his role as a deacon and to his martyrdom in 258 AD. As for the attribution, the work fits squarely within the finest Italian figurative tradition of the 17th century, revealing stylistic influences traceable to the school of central and southern Italy and, in particular, to the most refined examples of Neapolitan painting. The composition of the figure, together with the stylistic characteristics and a comparison with paintings depicting similar male figures, allows the work to be attributed —as local critics have prudently noted—to the circle of an artist endowed with an intense and expressive pictorial sensibility, akin to that of Bernardo Cavallino and Andrea Vaccaro, and active within the circle of Antonio De Bellis (Naples, 1630–1656). A painter of remarkable originality, De Bellis was one of the leading figures in the Neapolitan art scene of the mid-17th century and is today at the center of a renewed and lively historiographical debate; his works are housed in prestigious European museum collections.