Niccolò de Simone (Liège, Belgium, ? - Naples,... Lot n° 33

Niccolò de Simone (Liège, Belgium, ? - Naples, 1677) 'Immaculate Conception' Oil on canvas. Signed. Circa 1650. 187 x 136 cm. De Simone was the son of the Flemish painter Simone Locket, hence his name. Active in Naples where he was influenced by Ribera's naturalism, the 'neo-Venetian' examples of Giovan Benedetto Castiglione, il Grecheto, and the young Nicolas Poussin from Rome, from whom he copied, with variations, some paintings. We would like to thank Professor D. Nicola Spinosa for his help in cataloguing this painting. Reference bibliography: Spinosa, Nicola. 'Pittura del seicento a Napoli, Da Caravaggio a Massimo Stanzione'. Arte'm Editore, Naples 2010. - Catalogue of the exhibition 'Civiltà del seicneto a Napoli'. Capodimonte, 1984-1985. Editorial Electa, Naples. There is a very similar painting of the Immaculate Conception to this one in the church of Sant Agostino degli Scalzi in Naples. Provenance: Private collection Barcelona, inherited from an ancestor with Italian heritage.