ALESSANDRO MAGNASCO | The death of Seneca

This powerful representation of the suicide of the Roman philosopher Seneca has been identified as a rare early work of Alessandro Magnasco by Anna Orlando, to whom we are grateful for her assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.

This painting should be compared to the few other single figure canvasses from Magnasco's early years - namely the Penitant Magdalene, private collection,(1) and the Ectasy of Saint Francis in the collection of the Galleria di Palazzo Bianco, Genoa.(2)

1 F.F. Guelfi, Alessandro Magnasco, Soncino 1991, p. 38–9, cat. no. 15, reproduced p. 39.

2 Inv. no. P.B.2668; Guelfi 1991, p. 40–41, cat. no. 16, reproduced p. 41.