(Canale di Serino 1657–1747 Barra)
Study of a male figure, seated; the study of a seated female figure and architectural studies on the reverse, black chalk on laid paper with watermark “figure in a single-line circle”, 17,4 x 22,5 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Giancarlo Sestieri, Rome.

The figure study may have been executed in preparation for a fresco with „The Fall of Simon the Magician“ in the sacristy of the church San Paolo Maggiore (1689–1690) in Naples (see: Nicola Spinosa (Ed.), Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) e le Arti Napoli, Rome 2018, pp.271–274, Cat. 94h). Work on the fresco decoration began in 1689 and was commissioned by the Theatine Order of San Paolo Maggiore; it was finished one year later. The figure of the present study recalls the pose of a seated man in the right foreground of the fresco. The two figures differ however in drawing and fresco in they way how they look. The present study recalls the pose of the seated man in the right foreground of the fresco, who in contrast to the drawing is the only figure looking towards the onlooker. According to Prof. Nicola Spinosa the drawing may have been executed around 1690.

The attribution to Francesco Solimena was confirmed by Prof. Nicola Spinosa on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.

© Bologna, Zeri Photo Archive, Inv. 64282