Neapolitan school; early eighteenth century. "Gaspar... Lot 8

Neapolitan school; early eighteenth century. "Gaspar de Bono". Oil on canvas. Relined. Presents repainting. Measures: 94 x 69 cm. The portrait follows in a certain way, models inherited from the baroque period as can be seen in the representation of the large curtain located in the upper right area. The scene of narrative character, shows the figure of a religious holding in his hands a crucifix and in the other a bible. The protagonist with a nimbus of sanctity, directs his gaze to the sky, which coincides with a ray of light that comes from the exterior landscape and crosses the room until it reaches the portrayed person. Despite his humble black clothing, we can discern that he is a high church official, since the mitre and the bishop's crozier can be seen on the floor. The portrait has an idealized landscape background, the usual type in the works of the Italian school, softening the baroque characteristics of the same. In the foreground, and with the help of a tree, the composition is closed by the architecture in which the main character is inscribed. The distinctive sign of the Neapolitan school has always been its strong naturalistic character, its warm color, with reddish and chestnut dominants and the cultivation, together with the altar painting, of a type of realistic painting its best exponent. In Naples the influence of José Ribera was equal or superior to that of Caravaggio. His naturalism, more sensual and material, more vigorous and vehement, less intellectual than that of the latter, becomes permeable over time to Venetian and Flemish influences, enriching color and lightening of technique, especially from 1635. His most faithful disciples are the Fracanzano family, Cesare (1600-51) and Francesco (1612-56), Bartolomeo Bassante (1614-56), Paolo Domenico Finoglia (1590-1645) and some others who later cultivated special genres such as Aniello Falcone (1607-56), Salvatore Rosa (1615-73) or Luca Giordano. However, from the Baroque period onwards, the colors were softened and nuanced without opting so much for tenebrism, but preserving a great theatricality in the representations.