
Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
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£5,000 - £7,000
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Head of Sale
Provenance
Sale, Christie's, London, 3 December 1997, lot 222 (as circle of Pellegrini)
A suggestion that this oil sketch may be a preliminary study for Mondo's Apotheosis of Hercules for the ceiling of the Room of the Halberdiers in the Royal Palace of Caserta was corroborated by Prof. Nicola Spinosa in a verbal communication to the vendor. Another study for this room is Mondo's Triumph of Hercules, which was previously in a private French collection (see: D. Campanelli, Domenico Mondo: un solimenesco in Terra di Lavoro, Naples, 1997, p. 33).
The son of Marco Mondo, Domenico trained with Francesco Solimena and lived in his native city until 1789 when he was appointed director of the Neapolitan Academy of Drawing on the command of Ferdinand IV, maintaining this position until 1805. He worked in the Royal Palace of Caserta in 1785 and in various churches in the region.