SEBASTIANO CONCA

Sebastiano Conca – Italian prolific painter born in Gaeta 8 January 1680 & died in Naples 1 September 1764. He was the son of Erasmo Conca, a merchant and tax collector, and his wife Caterinade de Iorio. He received his artistic training under the painter Francesco Solimena (1657-1747). In 1706 he moved to Rome where he received widespread acclaim and patronage. In 1714 he was admitted into the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon and in 1718 was elected member of the Accademia di San Luca and served two terms as its director respectively in 1729-1731 and 1739-1741.

While in Rome he collaborated with the painter Carlo Maratta (1625-1713). He was patronized by the Ambassador of Spain Cardinal Acquaviva and by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni who introduced him to Pope Clement XI (1700-1721) who knighted him. Pope Benedict XIII (1724-1730) also favoured him. He worked in Turin for the House of Savoy. During the years 1731 and 1732 he toured and worked in Tuscany. In 1739 he published a treatise on painting titled Ammonimenti. After a long and successful stay in Rome he returned to Naples in 1752 where he enjoyed the patronage of King Charles III.

Exhibited at the NMF is a fine Madonna and Child with Infant Baptist by Conca which, in 1744, was presented as a gift to Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto de Fonseca (1741-1773) by the Apostolic Delegate and Inquisitor Paolo Passionei. The Cathedral Museum at Mdina has a charming pen and wash drawing by Conca depicting the Rest on the Flight to Egypt.

From An Encyclopedia of Artists with a Malta Connection