Francesco Fracanzano

Joseph being sold into slavery

Lot Closed

December 8, 03:08 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Francesco Fracanzano

Monopoli 1612 - Naples 1656

Joseph being sold into slavery

oil on canvas

unframed: 101.7 x 108.3 cm.; 40 x 42⅝ in.

framed: 121 x 145.5 cm.; 47⅝ x 57¼ in.

By tradition said to have belonged to the Dukes and Duchesses of Berry, thence by descent;
Private collection, USA;
Private collection by 1986 (when offered, 'Property from a Private Collection', New York, Sotheby's, 5 November 1986, lot 137).

The attribution of this painting is due to Prof. Nicola Spinosa. In his youth Francesco Fracanzano arrived in Naples with his brother Cesare from their native Bari. The influence of Ribera is strongly felt in his work. He came to specialise in half- and three-quarter-length figures and his style is characterised by sharply contrasting shadows and solidly modelled figures.

The elderly figure on the right in the bright orange, blue and white clothing bears a striking resemblance to a Philosopher by Fracanzano preserved in a private collection.¹ The composition and spirit of the painting are reminiscent of The Incredulity of Saint Thomas and The Fortune Teller, both in private collections.² Spinosa suggested that that the young man at the right side of the composition looking directly at the viewer may be a self-portrait.

Another version of the same subject, ascribed to Francesco's brother Cesare, was sold in 1978.³

¹N. Spinosa, Pittura del seicento a Napoli, da Caravaggio a Massimo Stanzione, Naples 2010, p. 280, no. 208 reproduced.

² Spinosa 2010 pp. 281–2, nos 212 and 214 reproduced.

³Christie's, London, 3 November 1978, lot 111.