Neapolitan school of the 17th century, Battle scenes between Christians and Turks

Neapolitan school of the 17th century Battle scenes between Christians and Turks (2) Oil on canvas, cm 52 x 71 With frame, cm 61 x 80 A genre that found wide affirmation in Neapolitan painting of the seventeenth century and flattering success among collectors was that of the battle. The Neapolitan nobility loved to adorn the walls of their halls with battles depicting single acts of heroism or complex combats that exalted patriotism and military skill, virtues in which the members of the wealthy aristocracy of the time loved to identify. Even the Church, in the Neapolitan area, was at the forefront of commissions, entrusting artists to depict the spectacular triumphs of Christianity over the infidels, such as the memorable naval battle of Lepanto in 1571, which marked a historical turning point with the great victory over the Turks, becoming a repeated iconographic motif full of devotional value, replicated several times through the interest of the Dominican order, very devoted to the Madonna of the Rosary, who benevolently followed earthly events from the heights of the heavens. Other themes dear to the Church in the genre were taken from the Old and New Testaments, such as the Victory of Constantine at the Milvian Bridge or Saint James at the Battle of Clodio. Among the main Neapolitan artists of that period, several specialized in battle scenes: among these we remember Francesco Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano, a battle painter active between Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century, Andrea De Lione, who lived in Naples from 1610 to 1685, a versatile narrator of battles without heroes, of knights attacking or retreating, of profane scenes immersed in a wild and primordial nature, yet already classicized, and Carlo Coppola. The latter was active for over twenty years, from 1640 to 1665 and his catalog, interesting because it is a testimony of a particular historical moment and the tastes of private clients, is still to be defined, although many of his works are signed. It is precisely to Coppola's body of work that these two paintings could be approached: the two paintings seem to share the smoky colors, the accentuated chiaroscuro and the marked dynamism of the scenes with the production of the Neapolitan battle painter. Furthermore, it is necessary to remember how the battle between Christians and Turks was an absolutely central theme with regard to Coppola's pictorial production. The production of one of Coppola's most famous pupils, Giovanni Luigi Rocco, is also close to the style of the two paintings analyzed here: the paintings show similarities with two Battle Scenes between Christians and Muslims currently part of a private collection in Parma.