(Naples 1602–1643)
Sophonisba with the cup of poison,
oil on canvas, 129 x 103 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

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 painting depicts Sophonisba; it was probably intended as a pair with the previous painting (lot 67) or as part of a series of heroines of antiquity by Diana De Rosa, and offers a fundamental insight into the artistic importance and autonomy of the artist in the midst of the crowded creative context of painters active in Naples during the first half of the seventeenth century.

The subject of women, expressed with great individuality, is prominent in Diana De Rosa’s work revealing the artist’s particular attention to the work of Artemisia Gentileschi.

The protagonists of the present and of the previous painting of Dido are both women who took extreme action to fulfil their ethical and sentimental ideals. In this sense, Diana de Rosa is the Neapolitan response to Artemisia Gentileschi: she was one of the rare distinguished professional female painters active in Naples that attained considerable success in her field.

Sophonisba, dressed in regal elegance, holds the silver goblet of poison, either preparing to drink it or having just done so. She gazes to the side as she calmly accepts death over dishonour. In fact, she was the daughter of a Carthaginian general at the time of the second Punic war. She married a prince of neighbouring Numidia who was allied to Rome and succeeded in alienating him from his Roman masters. Her husband was captured by another Numidian leader Masinissa, who in turn fell in love with Sophonisba and married her. To prevent the loss of a second ally for the same cause, the Roman general Scipio demanded that she be surrendered and sent captive to Rome. Her husband, not daring to defy Scipio, sent her a cup of poison which she drank.

Sophonisba’s features can be compared to the Madonna in the Madonna and Child in the Chiesa del Divino Amore, Naples, which has, until recently, been considered by an anonymous painter close to Pacecco De Rosa, although Lattuada has attributed this work to Diana de Rosa. Among the paintings that have been also credibly attributed to Diana De Rosa and to which the present work can be particularly compared, is the painting Saint Agatha sold at Dorotheum (22 October 2019, lot 57).

For further biographical details regarding Diana De Rosa, please refer to the catalogue entry for lot 67.