Sebastiano Conca

Sebastiano Conca (Jan 8, 1680 - Sep 1, 1764) was an Italian painter

Son of Erasmus Conca and Caterina de Iorio, was the eldest of ten brothers He was formed at the Neapolitan school of Francesco Solimena

From 1706 he moved to Rome with his brother Giovanni, who was his assistant Here he joined Carlo Maratta and performed a profitable activity as a fresco artist and altar artist until the 1750s In contact with the latter, his exuberant artistic style was partially moderated In Rome, he had Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni as patron and presented him to Pope Clement XI Following this meeting, he realized the fresco depicting Jeremiah in the basilica of St John Lateran For the painting he was rewarded by the pope with the title of knight and the cardinal with a cross of diamonds

In 1710 he opened his academy, the so-called "Academy of Nude", attracting many students from all over Europe, including Pompeo Batoni, Sicilians Olivio Sozzi and Giuseppe Tresca, who served to spread his style across the continent In 1729 he became part of the Accademia di San Luca and became director in two different periods In August 1731 the painter was called to Siena to freshen the apse of the Church of the Most Holy Anniversary, for willful will of the rector of Santa Maria della Scala, Ugolino Billò The work was completed in April 1732 With the "Probatica Piscina" (or "Siloan Swimming Pool"), Conca gained the widespread admiration of contemporaries In particular, the wide work of the work and the wise composition were appreciated, faithful to the evangelical tale and full of scrupulous details

He later served as a servant of the Savoy court, and worked at the oratory of San Filippo and at the church of Santa Teresa in Turin In 1739 he wrote a book entitled Ammonimenti, containing moral and artistic precepts and dedicated to all young people who wanted to become painters

After returning to Naples in 1752, Conca passed from these experiences of classical inspiration to the most grandiose canons of the late baroque and rococo and inspired above all to the works of Luca Giordano During this period he realized frescoes and dazzling and "illusionistic" canvases

Among his best students is Giuseppe Ranucci of the diocese of Fondi "All the artist's famous production dates back to 1730, given for the painting of the church of Santi Celso and Giuliano, to the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna in Rome " The picture preserved in the church of Santa Gemma, depicting the Madonna with the Child in Glory, San Pancrazio with the Roman palm and Santa Gemma in prayer is therefore the work of the artist's mature age who created it in 1758, a year after the blade Altar depicting the Conception of Virgin Mary painted for the Franciscans of the Roman Church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna

Gaetano Lapis (Cagli, 1706 - Rome, 1773), also known as the "Carracetto", which Sebastiano entrusted to the tutor of his cousin Giovanni, in whose house the young Gaetano would have lived the first years of Roman apprenticeship

A fair celebrity also had the nephew of Sebastiano, Roman Tommaso Conca Among his students we also remember the Messico baroque painter Placido Campolo and the Roman Andrea Casali, renowned representative of Rococo painting

His painting was strongly influenced by the Baroque 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 family in Turin 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 In Genoa, 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 in 1752, and enjoyed the royal patronage of Charles III 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 (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 painted till late in life

Among the works that reflect his late-Baroque 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 It is an mannerist Baroque, not its distilled apotheosis, but a distanced elaboration from its roots in Carracci and Cortona

Works:
Adoration of shepherds, 1720, oil on canvas
Probatica Swimming Pool, 1732, Church of the Most Holy Annunziata, Siena, fresco
San Giorgio and the Dragon, Church of San Giorgio, Siena, oil on canvas
The Annunciation, oil on canvas
Santa Teresa d'Ávila with the Blessed Virgin, oil on canvas, Concathedral of Santissima Maria Assunta and San Catello, Castellammare di Stabia
The Christ of Pozzano, series of three paintings, oil on canvas, Basilica Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Pozzano, Castellammare di Stabia
Birth of the Virgin, oil on copper
Susanna and the old, oil on canvas
San Giuseppe with child, fresco, Basilica of San Gregorio Maggiore, Spoleto
Holy Family, fresco, Church of San Filippo Neri, Spoleto
Madonna with Child and St John, 1746, Town Hall, Spoleto
Resting while Escape to Egypt and Birth of the Virgin, Two Canvas, Former Church of Santa Maria della Manna d'Oro, Spoleto
Madonna of Paradise, Church of Our Lady of Paradise Mazara del Vallo
The last communion of St Benedict, St Benedict's Church at Militello in Val di Catania
Madonna della Beltura, oil on canvas, Church of St Augustine of Reggio Calabria
Madonna of the Heart, 1727, Oil on Canvas, Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Gerano (RM)
Presentation of Mary at the Temple, Convent of the Presentation at the Temple, in Monte Argentario (GR)
Madonna delle Grazie with saints, oil on canvas, Church of Santa Maria Infante in Minturno
Baptism of Christ Teramo, Civic Museum of Teramo
Presentation of Jesus at Temple 1720, Sanctuary of the Most Holy Anniversary, Gaeta, fresco
The Adoration of the Magi 1720, Sanctuary of the Most Holy Anniversary, Gaeta, fresco
San Pasquale Baylon, Side Chapel, Parish Church of Ardenno (So)
Departure of Rinaldo, Erminia among shepherds 1731, Perugia, National Gallery of Umbria
Santa Chiara in glory, Sulmona, church of Santa Chiara, major altar, oil on canvas, fifties of the eighteenth century
Judas Maccabeo, Andria, St Nicholas Trimodiese Church (coming from the Benedictine Church of Our Lady of Miracles)
Apotheosis of San Corrado, altarpiece, Known Sanctuary of San Corrado outside
Madonna del Rosario with St Dominic and St Catherine, St Thomas College, Linguaglossa (Catania)
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