Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery ('Let he who is without sin cast the first stone')

Details

Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680-1764 Naples)
Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery ('Let he who is without sin cast the first stone')
signed and dated 'Equ...et conca fecit an... 1741' (lower left)
oil on canvas
46 x 63 in. (116.8 x 160 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 28th June 1974, lot 123, (sold to the below).
with Ira Spanierman, Inc., New York, 1976.
Property from the Collection formed by the British Rail fund; Sotheby's, New York, 30 January 1997, lot 111, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature

G. Sestieri, Repertorio della Pittura Romana della Fine del Seicento e del Settecento, 1993, I, p. 58.

Exhibited

County Durham, Barnard Castle, The Bowes Museum, on loan 1977-1984.
Gaeta, Palazzo de Vio, Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764), July-October 1981, no. 96, illustrated (entry by G. Sestieri).
Austin, Texas, Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, on loan 1985-1996.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The present work, dated 1741, was painted at a time when Conca was at the height of his career. In 1739, he was made Principe dell'Academia di San Luca for a second time, a post that he would hold until 1742. The artist received a number of prestigious commissions from patrons both in Italy and abroad; Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery is thought to have been commissioned by a private patron and not for ecclesiastical purposes. It is an excellent example of a composition on a grand scale, for which he became highly sought after.

More from Important Old Master Pictures

View All