(Naples 1604- 1670)
Sacrifice to Ceres, oil on canvas, 98 x 75 cm, framed

The attribution of this painting to Andrea Vaccaro has been endorsed by Professor Nicola Spinosa. The picture shows a group of winged putti frolicking around a statue of Bacchus. The subject, commonly referred to as ‘Bacchanal’, was extremely popular in 17th Century Italy. The first artist to experiment with it was Titian, who inspired such artists as Nicolas Poussin, Pietro da Cortona, and Andrea Sacchi. The present painting by Andrea Vaccaro, was most probably executed after 1650, when the painter, following an early Caravaggesque phase, adopted the style of Bernardo Cavallino, with whom he most probably also collaborated. With the latter, Vaccaro shared a warm ‘neo-Venetian’ palette, but also a moderate classical approach and the cool, formal elegance inspired from the French painters of Poussin’s circle in Rome. The present composition appears to draw upon Bacchanal scenes by Andrea de Lione and Cavallino, such as the latter’s work Putti Playing by a Statue of the Juvenile Bacchus in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. The putti displayed here show the same features and formal qualities as the putti and angels appearing in works from Cavallino’s maturity, such as the Holy Family and the Infant Baptist or the two versions of the Holy Family with Saints Anne and Joachim in diverse private collections (V. Pacelli, “Andrea Vaccaro, patriarca della pittura del Seicento a Napoli”, in Studi di Storia dell’Arte, no. 19, 2008, figs. 33, 45, 46). (Nicola Spinosa, written communication, Naples, 7 July 2010).