Lot 188: Nicola Vaccaro (Naples 1640-1709)

Tobias and the Angel
oil on canvas
30 1/4 x 25 1/4 in. (76.7 x 63.9 cm.)

The Osborne Family, Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, from whom acquired by the aunt of the present owner approximately twenty years ago.

We are grateful to Professor Riccardo Lattuada for the attribution, given after inspection in the original; this has been confirmed by Dr. Mariaclaudia Izzo, to whom we are also very grateful, and who regards it as a late work by the artist, datable to the first years of the 18th century. Professor Lattuada and Dr. Izzo will include this picture in their forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's works, due to be published in 2006.

Nicola Vaccaro, the son of the celebrated Andrea Vaccaro, was one of the most important figures in neapolitan art during its transitional stage before the full impact of the baroque movement. He is perhaps best known for his contribution as a figure painter in still life paintings, particularly in large-scale works as documented in contemporary inventories and as is evident in the number of such paintings in museums and on the art market : for example the Young woman and three children picking up fruit and flowers in a garden sold, Christie's, London, 18 April 1997, lot 120, painted in collaboration with Abraham Brueghel (£128,000).

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