{"id":8868,"date":"2020-06-09T17:15:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T15:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/?post_type=opera&p=8868"},"modified":"2020-07-21T18:24:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T16:24:01","slug":"gaetano-de-simone-portrait-of-the-astronomer-giuseppe-cassella","status":"publish","type":"opera","link":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/opera\/gaetano-de-simone-portrait-of-the-astronomer-giuseppe-cassella\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaetano De Simone – Portrait of the Astronomer Giuseppe Cassella"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"De<\/a>Gaetano de Simone<\/p>\n

Naples<\/span>\u00a01747<\/span>–<\/span>circa 1822<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Portrait<\/span><\/i>\u00a0of the\u00a0<\/span><\/i>astronomer<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Giuseppe Cassella\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(Cusano Mutri 1755-Naples 1808)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1789<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oil on canvas, 66\u00a0<\/span>\u00d7\u00a0<\/span>52 cm<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Signed and dated on the back of the frame, top: \u201cGaetano De Simone 1789 Nap<\/span>oli<\/span>\u201d; lower left: \u201cGaetano De Simoni\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Provenance: Italy, private collection<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaetano De Simone was rediscovered only recently as a protagonist of aristocratic Neapolitan portraiture around the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>Massimo Pisani,\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Gaetano De Simone, un\u00a0<\/span>ignoto<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pittore<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>napoletano<\/span>\u00a0della\u00a0<\/span>seconda<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>met\u00e0<\/span>\u00a0del\u00a0<\/span>Settecento<\/span>\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Prospettiva<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0<\/span>47,\u00a0<\/span>1986<\/span>, pp. 69-74; Id.\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Ancora<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>su<\/span>\u00a0Gaetano De Simone\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Prospettiva<\/span><\/i>, 64, 1991, 83-87)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this portrait he owes a debt to the illuminist simplicity of\u00a0<\/span>Mengsian<\/span>\u00a0models, concentrating on the face of the sitter seen against an abstract background. The work is an exceptional iconographic record, it represents the illustrious Neapolitan astronomer Giuseppe\u00a0<\/span>Cassella<\/span>\u00a0(or Casella<\/span>, Cusano\u00a0<\/span>Mutri<\/span>\u00a01755-Naples 1808<\/span>)<\/span>, accompanied by the attribute of the telescope. The scholar lectured in astronomy and nautical studies, was author of \u201cAstronomical Ephemera,\u201d published annually from 1788 and designer of the first public Neapolitan observatory in 1791 at Palazzo\u00a0<\/span>degli<\/span>\u00a0Studi, then Museo\u00a0<\/span>Borbonico<\/span>, where he and the architect Pompeo\u00a0<\/span>Schiattarelli<\/span>\u00a0made the famous meridian in the room of the same name. At the time the painting was made\u00a0<\/span>Cassella<\/span>\u00a0made use for his\u00a0<\/span>astronomical research of the apparatus at the private observatory belonging to Lord Acton at San Carlo\u00a0<\/span>alle<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Mortelle<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>Ugo\u00a0<\/span>Baldini<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Giuseppe Casella<\/span><\/i>, in\u00a0<\/span>Dizionario<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Biografico<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>degli<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Italiani<\/span><\/i>, vol. 21, 1978,\u00a0<\/span>ad\u00a0<\/span><\/i>vocem<\/span><\/i>)<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaetano de Simone Naples\u00a01747–circa 1822\u00a0 Portrait\u00a0of the\u00a0astronomer\u00a0Giuseppe Cassella\u00a0(Cusano Mutri 1755-Naples 1808)\u00a0 1789\u00a0 Oil on canvas, 66\u00a0\u00d7\u00a052 cm\u00a0 Signed and dated on the back of the frame, top: \u201cGaetano De Simone 1789 Napoli\u201d; lower left: \u201cGaetano De Simoni\u201d\u00a0 Provenance: Italy, private collection\u00a0 \u00a0 Gaetano De Simone was rediscovered only recently as a protagonist of aristocratic Neapolitan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8870,"template":"","autore":[348],"tipologia_opera":[80],"ambito_opera":[82],"data_opera":[349],"disponibilita_opera":[],"titolo_mostra":[362],"tag_mostra":[363],"class_list":["post-8868","opera","type-opera","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","autore-gaetano-de-simone-1747-1822","tipologia_opera-recent-acquisitions","ambito_opera-pittura-en","data_opera-349","titolo_mostra-law-digital-summer-2020","tag_mostra-law-digital-summer-2020","description-off"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opera\/8868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opera"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opera"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"autore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/autore?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"tipologia_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipologia_opera?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"ambito_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ambito_opera?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"data_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/data_opera?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"disponibilita_opera","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disponibilita_opera?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"titolo_mostra","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/titolo_mostra?post=8868"},{"taxonomy":"tag_mostra","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlovirgilio.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_mostra?post=8868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}