Aniello Falcone

Don Gaspar Méndez de Haro y Guzman, Marchese del Carpio e Helice;
sale, London, Christie's, 20 March 1973, lot 37

Window mounted. Some light staining at the outer edges. The paper is quite fragile/brittle and there are areas where you can see thinning of the paper - more noticeable at the right margin. Chalk remains fresh and vibrant.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Drawings by Falcone are very rare but a few, mostly landscapes, came onto the London market in 1973, from a dismembered album from the vast collection assembled by the Marchese del Carpio, Don Gaspar Méndez de Haro y Guzman (1629-1687), who was Viceroy of Naples from 1683 until his death.  Before that he had served as Spanish Ambassador in Rome (1677-1683) and he seems to have begun collecting there, as Bellori records that he had assembled 30 volumes of drawings.  His collection of drawings expanded even further when he got to Naples, where his library and drawings were organised by Padre Resta.  A 1687 inventory of the collection records a total of forty-three volumes.¹  The present drawing came from one of those albums, which at the time of the Christie's sale had been dispersed, leaving about 38 drawings, mostly by Neapolitan artists.  This was very comparable to his so-called Aniello Falcone Album, now in the Biblioteca National, Madrid, which contained nineteen Falcone drawings.  For a full discussion of the album, and the several other surviving albums in various public collections, see the introductory note in the Christie's sale catalogue.² 

All the drawings by Falcone from the Marchese del Carpio's albums are inscribed in the same hand which seems more likely to be the attribution of a previous collector than a signature.  Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò in her informative article in Master Drawings (note 1) pointed out that Padre Resta, who was acquiring drawings in the Neapolitan art market both for himself and the Marchese del Carpio, had acquired the collection of Falcone's pupil Andrea de Lione (1610-1685).  No doubt this must have been the source of the Falcones in the collection of the Viceroy.  This male nude academy is also evidence of De Dominici's account that Falcone had instituted in his own house an academy to study from the model.

For another drawing from the same album, see lot 256 (Belisario Corenzio) in the forthcoming sale of the Ralph Holland Collection.³

1.  For a complete history of the del Carpio Collection, see S. Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, 'Additions to the Drawings Collection of the Marqués del Carpio', Master Drawings, XLVI, no. 1, 2008, pp. 3-35
2.  For more information, see V. Farina, 'La collezione del Viceré: il marchese del Carpio, padre Sebastiano Resta e la prima raccolta ragionata di disegni napoletani', Le Dessin Napolitain, Actes du colloque international (6-8 March 2008), Rome 2010, pp. 190-192
3. To be sold in these Rooms, 5 July 2013