ANDREA DE LEONE (NAPLES 1610 - 1685) Battle between the Hebrews and the Philistines with David & Goliath oil on octagonal canvas 48.5 x 62 cm (19 x 24 1/2 in) Painted circa 1650-1660 PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Italy Bears inscription on the reverse David che uccide il Gigante Golia / Dipinto di Andrea da Leone The present work, recently rediscovered, can be dated from the mature period of Andrea di Leone’s career as a painter of battles, when he asserted his stylistic independence from his master Aniello Falcone (Naples 1660 - 1665). Both Goliath's size and distortion in the foreground are typical of De Leone's style in his more mature works, as also shown in a signed painting of the same subject dating circa 1645 in the collection of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples (inv. 8315), (fig. 1). De Leone’s sophisticated use of lapis lazuli in David’s cloak and in the sky adds drama to the composition. Divided into two parts, the foreground remains in the shadows leaving the protagonists in the dark while the light shed on the turbulent background reveals a mass of soldiers on the battle field. The Neapolitan practice of life drawing was key to the depiction of such battle scenes, as illustrated by the several red chalk male nudes in movement (fig. 2). The biblical scene of David fighting Goliath in the foreground emphasises the violent backdrop inspired by the war of the time. Andrea di Leone built his fame and a commercial success on his battle paintings, stimulated by important commissions, and strong market demand thereafter. The genre of landscapes with battles had become a topic of the time in aristocratic European circles, and in Naples most particularly, due to the Thirty Years’ War, which had seen the young Neapolitans sent to the front across Europe. The genre of battle paintings was developed in Naples in Aniello’s Falcone workshop, which Andrea de Leone himself and Salvatore Rosa in particular went on to explore further. We are grateful to Miriam di Penta for her help in cataloguing this present lot. (1) see Andrea di Leone, Andrea De Leone (Napoli 1610-1685), Dipinti e disegni, Rome, 2016, cat. entry Q.7