Lot 30: PAOLO DOMENICO FINOGLIO

THE MUSICAL CONTEST BETWEEN APOLLO AND PAN

107.5 by 134.4 cm.; 42 1/4 by 52 7/8 in.

oil on canvas

G. Papi, "Note al Gramatica e al suo ambiente", in Paradigma, vol. 9, 1990, pp. 124-125, reproduced fig. 28 (as Finoglio);
G. Papi, Antiveduto Gramatica, Soncino 1995, p. 17 and p. 32, footnote 60, reproduced p. 222, fig. 103 (as Finoglio).

Castello di Giove sale, Giove, Babuino-Salamon Agustoni Algranti, 8 June 1985, lot 880 (as Pietro Paolini);
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Christie's, 8 July 1988, lot 111 (as Pietro Paolini).

Although originally thought to be by Pietro Paolini, based on a written communincation from Roberto Longhi in 1966, this painting has more recently been convincingly attributed to the Neapolitan painter Paolo Domenico Finoglio (or Finoglia). The painting is datable to the third decade of the 17th century and may be compared to Finoglio's ten lunettes representing the Founders of Religious Orders in the Sala Capitolare of the Certosa di San Martino, Naples, datable to the first half of the 1620s. (1) It is also reminiscent of Finoglio's Joseph and Potiphar's Wife of circa 1626, today in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge (Mass.), particularly in its facial types and the similar handling of draperies. (2) The Musical contest between Apollo and Pan does suggest a familiarity with the works of Antiveduto Gramatica, particularly in its use of chiaroscuro, Apollo's profile and the beautifully descriptive rendering of the violin, but there is no evidence to suggest that Antiveduto ever went to Naples or even met Finoglio directly.

Like the painting of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, this picture was almost certainly commissioned by a private patron. The subject, taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, shows the musical contest between Apollo and the woodland god Pan. Finoglio has chosen to depict Apollo holding a 17th-century violin rather than a classical lyre. Ovid recounts how the competition was judged by the river god Tmolus who, after listening to them playing their instruments, pronounced Apollo as the winner. King Midas, who stood listening among the crowd of spectators, loudly objected to this verdict and claimed that Pan had performed better. Apollo made Midas pay for his remarks by transforming his ears into those of an ass: Midas is seen in the distance drawing his arms up to his ears in horror.


1. The lunettes are reproduced in colour in Paolo Finoglio e il suo tempo, exhibition catalogue, Conversano, 18 April ? 30 September 2000, pp. 87-91, figs. 10a-10l.
2. Reproduced in colour in op. cit., p. 104, fig. 21.