(Naples 1601–1634)
Lucretia,
oil on canvas, 129 x 103 cm, framed

Blog: Powerful Women: Artemisia Gentileschi & Lucretia
Video: Artemisia Gentileschi "Lucretia"

Provenance:
probably Giovanni Jatta (1767–1844), Naples and Ruvo di Puglia;
Giovanni Francesco Gaetano Jatta (1832–1895), Ruvo di Puglia;
and thence by descent to the present owner

We are grateful to Riccardo Lattuada for suggesting the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The present, previously unpublished, painting offers a fundamental insight into the artistic importance and autonomy of Diana De Rosa, in the midst of the crowded creative context of painters who were active in Naples during the first half of the seventeenth century. Diana De Rosa, also called Annella di Massimo, achieved notable success as a painter and was one of the very few female artists active in Naples during this period. She was the sister of the artist Pacecco De Rosa and according to the biographer Bernardo de’ Dominici, apparently without foundation, Diana was murdered by her husband, the painter Agostino Beltrano, who was supposedly jealous of her close, though platonic, relationship with Massimo Stanzione. It is known that Diana died in 1643, and by that time she had become one of the foremost painters of the Neapolitan artistic milieu.

The present painting can be compared to several works that have been grouped around the name of Diana De Rosa. She is thought to have painted the Stories of the Virgin in Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. This group was added to by three more Stories of Mary executed for the church of San Giovanni Maggiore in Naples, two of which are today conserved in the Museo Diocesano, Naples (see F. Petrelli, Una luce su Annella de Rosa, in: Ricerche sul ‘600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2008, Naples 2009, pp. 87-92; G. Porzio in: P.L. Leone de Castris (ed.), Il Museo Diocesano di Napoli. Percorsi di Fede e Arte, Naples 2008, p.132, no. 40; G. Porzio, Ordine teatino e contesto artistico napoletano nel Seicento: Francesco Maria Caselli, Gaspare Del Popolo e una nota su Diana De Rosa in: D.A. D’Alessandro (ed.), Sant’Andrea Avellino e I Teatini nella Napoli del Viceregno spagnolo. Arte Religione e Società, Naples 2012, pp. 599-601, pp. 609-621, pls. 3-15). Among the paintings that have been credibly attributed to the painter, and to which the present painting can be particularly compared, are the Saint Agatha and the Holy Family, both in private collections (see Porzio 2012, cit., pls. 8 and 11).

The present painting of Lucretia is related to the Cleopatra by Stanzione in the Durazzo Pallavicini collection, Genoa, which also served as the source for the Saint Agatha by Francesco Guarino now in Capodimonte, Naples (see S. Schütze, T.W. Willette, Massimo Stanzione. L’Opera completa, Naples 1992, p. 213, A56; p. 322, figs. 192-193. N. Spinosa in: C. Cattaneo Adorno (ed.), Il Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini, Bologna 1993, pp. 196-197, ns. 79-80, assigns the Cleopatra to Francesco Guarino; R. Lattuada, Francesco Guarino da Solofra nella pittura napoletana del Seicento (1611-1651), Naples 2000, (II ed. 2012), p. 180 refuses the attribution of the Cleopatra to Guarino, asserting its ascription to Stanzione).

At the same time, a link can also be found with the works of Filippo Vitale, who was Diana’s godfather, as well as the works of her brother Pacecco De Rosa. For example, the design of the figure of Lucretia relates to that of Saint Ursula in the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (Caylus Anticuario s.a., Madrid) attributed to Filippo Vitale and Pacecco De Rosa (see V. Pacelli et al., Giovan Francesco de Rosa detto Pacecco de Rosa, 1607-1656, Naples 2008, pl. 50, pp. 318-319, nos. 50-53, for the version cited here and others only by Pacecco). The physical form of Lucretia is of a similar type to that of the figure of Mary in the Rest on the flight into Egypt by Filippo Vitale, conserved in D’Errico collection, Matera (see V. Pacelli et al., Giovan Francesco de Rosa, cit., p. 278, n. 5).

In more general terms, the composition and the expression of the figure demonstrate the influence of Guido Reni on the Neapolitan school of painting, and the present work can be compared to Reni´s Cleopatra in Potsdam-Sanssouci, (see S. Ebert-Schifferer in: S. Ebert-Schifferer/A. Emiliani (eds.), Guido Reni e l’Europa, exhibition catalogue, Bologna 1988, pp. 164-165, n. A16; on Reni’s iconographic choices see E. Rossoni, Le interpretazioni di una tragica scelta: Lucrezia romana da Parmigianino a Guido Reni, in: M. Scalini (ed.), Lucrezia romana. La virtù delle donne da Raffaello a Reni, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo 2016, pp. 106-115).

It is likely that the present painting can be dated towards the end of the 1630s, during the final phase of Diana De Rosa’s career. Her artistic personality emerges in the magnificent handling of the open shirt over the subject’s breast, in the shimmering reflections over her deep blue robes and by the undulating folds of the dark background drape. The handling of media in the painting is more fluid than Pacecco De Rosa, and is closer to the style of Stanzione and Artemisia Gentileschi. Her jewellery is resplendent at her wrist and in her hair. Her inspired expression speaks of her determination. The tip of her dagger has already pierced her flesh and the words of her famous last phrase, reported by Livy, appear to issue from her lips: ‘It is up to you to establish what [Sextus Tarquinius] deserves. As for me, although I acquit myself of the blame, I am not freed from the penalty. And so from this day on, no woman will live with dishonour and plead Lucretia’s example!’