Oil on canvas, 47cm by 37cm.
In the Abecedario Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793) noted Nos. 371,373, 376 & 378 ‘stolen with many others when the Royal collection was removed from Parma to Naples. Are now at Burghley with the Bourbon mark on them.’
This is C.F. for Casa Farnese.
In 1738 Charles VII, King of Naples and Sicily commenced the building of a large new palace in Naples.
This was partly to house the immense Farnese art collection which he had just inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, the last member of the ducal family of Parma.
As the 9th Earl recorded, many works of art were stolen during the transfer of the collection to its new home.
The artist, who was best known for portraiture, worked at both the Neapolitan and Florentine courts, as well as in Rome where he painted both Pope Pius V and Pope Gregory XIII.
