Giordano, Luca (attr.)

Description:

Neapel 1632 - 1705
74 x 58 cm,o.R.
Apostle Paul as half figure. Oil/canvas, relined, in the top left traces of monogram (?).
Southern German private collection. For the monogram, see Giordano’s Saint Sebastian at the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi, Lucca. Luca Giordano, who went by the nickname ‘Fa Presto’ - meaning ‘the quick painter’ - and was known at the very least for his high output, was also regarded as an artist capable of adapting to any style. If one compares his works from his time in Naples, Rome and Venice, one might suspect the presence of different artistic personalities or ‘hands’. In any case, however, his stylistic affinity with Ribera is striking… it is assumed that Luca Giordano was his pupil. The canvas presented here, depicting the Apostle Paul as a half-figure, was probably part of a series of apostle figures, much like Van Dyck’s (Peter, Paul, Bartholomew and Simon) in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. In terms of format, composition (the figures’ posture and torsion) and even colouring, our Paul fits in almost seamlessly with this group.