(Gaeta 1680–1764 Naples)
An Allegory of Justice; and an Allegory of Fortitude, oil on canvas, each 122 x 99 cm, a pair, framed (2)

We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Sestieri for identifying these two works by the Neopolitan master. He compares them with Conca’s large-scale decorations in the Palazzo Lomellini in Genoa (comp. G. Sestieri, Sebastiano Conca, Gaeta 1981, pp. 268–71). We also thank Professor Nicola Spinosa, who has independently identified the paintings as works by Conca, and Professor Edgar Bowron, who also independently confirmed Conca’s authorship.

These charming allegories seem to be the result of an importnat commission, since the personifications of Justice and Fortitude represent two virtues indispensible in a sovereign. Sebastiano Conca was trained in the workshop of Francesco Solimena. He later founded his own workshop in Rome, where his painting style evolved towards the classical mode of the late Baroque. This style, also referred to as the Roman Classical Revival, stood for a movement that was opposed to the frivolous approach of Rococo.

In 1719 Conca was admitted to the Academia di S. Luca. For Pope Clement XI, he painted the frescoes in San Giovanni in Laterano and San Clemente. Between 1721 and 1725, Conca worked for the Royal court in Turin. He was considered the most important 18th Century exponent of the early Classical Revival outside Rome.