Luca Giordano (1634-1705)

The beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Details

Luca Giordano (1634-1705)
Giordano, L.
The beheading of Saint John the Baptist
with inscription 'In Napoli e in S. M. La nova. Luca Giordano. Sua prim'opera a fresco dentro la Cappella di S. Giacomo dellla Marca'
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, watermark Orfini arms, a red chalk borderline at the top
8.1/8 x 12 in. (205 x 305 mm.)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Sotheby's London, 4 July 1988, lot 43.
with Succi Ltd.

Literature

L. Arbace, 'Luca Giordano disegnatore verso il 1675', Prospettiva, 57-60, 1989-90, p. 275.
O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, Luca Giordano, Naples, 1992, D91 and under A354 and A46.

Exhibited

Naples, Museo Capodimonti, La Civilt del Seicento a Napoli, 1984, no. 3.38.

Lot Essay

A study, with only minor differences, for the signed picture in the Museo de Arte in Ponce, Puerto Rico, O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, op. cit., A.354, fig. 466. The picture is dated by Ferrari and Scavizzi to 1684-5. The old inscription on the drawing incorrectly connects the drawing with Giordano's cycle of frescoes in the chapel of San Giacomo della Marca in Santa Maria la Novo, Naples, datable much earlier in Giordano's career, circa 1655.