Miniature Ferdinand IV Bourbon Naples
Miniature Ferdinand IV Bourbon Naples
A tortoiseshell snuff box mounted and lined in vermeille, on the lid of which is applied a large oval miniature on ivory depicting the profile portrait facing left of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon dressed in a brown jacket with decorations.
Miniaturist of the Neapolitan court, attributable to Biagio di Costanzo (active between the late 18th and early 19th centuries).
Dimensions of the snuffbox 6 x 9 x 2.2 cm - the miniature 4.2 x 3.6 cm approximately.
Excellent condition commensurate with age and use.
Giuseppe Tresca (Naples? -Palermo 1816): Giuseppe Tresca was a painter of religious subjects, miniature portraitist and engraver. He was a prolific miniaturist at the court of the Bourbons; many of his miniatures are preserved in the royal collections of dynasties related to the lineage, such as the Habsburgs (Vienna, Hofburg). See Schidlof (La miniature en Europe, Graz 1964, II, p. 846), AA.VV., Galanterie. Objects of luxury and pleasure in Europe between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exhibition catalog, Naples 1997, pp. 155, 211. His portraits are characterized by fine execution, although his style varies, depending on the demands of his patrons and models (he may resort to pale colors and ill-defined drawing).
Sotheby’s Paris 15th December 2023 sale “Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Autour de la duchesse de Berry.”
