Lot 196: Niccolò de Simone (documented in Naples 1636-1677)

Saint Agatha
oil on canvas
41 1/4 x 29 7/8 in. (104.7 x 75.9 cm.)

Niccolò de Simone (also known by his Flemish name, Nicola lo Zet) received a number of prestigious commissions in such Neapolitan churches as i Santi Severino e Sossio, Santa Teresa agli Studi, and San Lorenzo Maggiore e San Potito. He worked for numerous important patrons and collaborated with Viviano Codazzi, adding figures to the latter's architectural capricci (cf. A. Brejon de Lavergnée in Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, exh. cat., Naples, 1984, pp. 131, 254-6; I. Creazzo, 'Alcuni inediti di Niccolò de Simone e altre precisazioni sul pittore', in Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Raffaello Causa, Naples, 1988, pp. 223-32; R. Lattuada, 'Un inedito di Niccolò de Simone alla Galleria Doria Pamphilij', in Bollettino d'Arte del Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, nos. 96-7, pp. 133-4).

The present picture can be compared with a number of half-length female saints by de Simone that were clearly inspired by Massimo Stanzione's and Bernardo Cavallino's prototypes (cf. I. Creazzo, op. cit., figs. 8-9, p. 229), however, here the artist exhibits a sensitivity and lightness of touch that is rarely seen in his oeuvre. The rich colours of the Saint's flowing robes contrast with her blond hair and reveal de Simone's acquaintance with the neo-Venetian palette, somewhat close to Van Dyck's Sicilian works, that was introduced to Naples during the 1640s by Ribera and his circle.

We are grateful to Dr. Stefano Causa and Professor Riccardo Lattuada for proposing the attribution on the basis of photographs. They date the painting to around 1640.

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