Paolo Porpora (1617-1673), Coral and Shells. Oil on canvas, 17 ⅝ by 12 ⅝ in.; 44.8 by 32.2 cm. Asking price: $125,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Provenance: Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 4 December 2008, lot 225 (pre-cleaning, as Attributed to Bartolomeo Bimbi).

Exhibited: Naples, Museo Principe Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes, 12 December 2009 - 11 April 2010.

Literature: D. Maria Pagano, in N. Spinosa (ed.), Ritorno al Barocco. Da Caravaggio a Vanvitelli, exhibition catalogue, Naples 2009-10, vol. I, p. 373, cat. no. 1.216.

Note: Paolo Porpora began his professional activity in Naples but moved to Rome in 1656 where he became a member of the Accademia di San Luca. Together with Luca Forte, Porpora appears as a major figure in the Neapolitan School of still life. The coral and shells depicted in the present work reflect the seventeenth century practice of collecting these beautiful and singular objects from foreign lands – they were then displayed in cabinets of curiosity and frequently used as the subject of paintings.

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