Sebastiano Conca Biography
Sebastiano Conca known as the Knight (Gaeta, 8 January 1680 – Naples, 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter. Son of Erasmo Conca and Caterina de Iorio, he was the eldest of ten brothers. He trained at the Neapolitan school of Francesco Solimena. From 1706 he moved to Rome with his brother Giovanni, who was his assistant. Here he worked alongside Carlo Maratta and carried out a fruitful activity as a fresco painter and altar artist until after 1750. In contact with the latter, his exuberant artistic style partially moderated. In Rome, he had Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni as his patron and he introduced him to Pope Clement XI. Following this meeting, he created the fresco depicting Jeremiah in the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. For the painting he was rewarded by the pope with the title of knight and by the cardinal with a diamond cross. In 1710 he opened his academy, the so-called "Accademia del Nudo" which attracted many students from all over Europe, including Pompeo Batoni, the Sicilians Olivio Sozzi and Giuseppe Tresca, and which served to spread his style throughout the continent. In 1729 he joined the Accademia di San Luca and became its director in two different periods. In August 1731 the painter was called to Siena to fresco the apse of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata, by testamentary will of the rector of Santa Maria della Scala, Ugolino Billò. The work was completed in April 1732. With the "Probatica Piscina" (or "Siloan Pool"), Conca earned the widespread admiration of his contemporaries. In particular, the broad scope of the work and the skilful composition, faithful to the Gospel story and full of scrupulous details, were appreciated. He was later, among other things, in the service of the Savoy court, and worked in Turin, at the oratory of San Filippo and at the church of Santa Teresa. In 1739 he wrote a book entitled Admonitions, containing moral and artistic precepts and dedicated to all young people who wanted to become painters. After his return to Naples in 1752, Conca moved from these classically inspired experiences to the more grandiose canons of the late Baroque and Rococo and was inspired above all by the works of Luca Giordano. In this period he created dazzling and "illusory" frescoes and canvases. Among his best students is Giuseppe Ranucci of the diocese of Fondi. "All of the artist's known production today dates back to the period from 1730, the date for the painting in the church of Saints Celso and Giuliano, to 1757 for the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna in Rome". The painting preserved in the church of Santa Gemma, depicting the Madonna with the Child in Glory, San Pancrazio with the Roman palm and Santa Gemma in prayer is therefore the work of the mature age of the artist who created it in 1758, a year after the altarpiece altarpiece depicting the Conception of the Virgin Mary painted for the Franciscans of the Roman church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.
