Attributed to Francesco Solimena

FRANCESCO SOLIMENA (Italy, 1657 - 1747).
"Madonna and Child with Juanito".
Oil on canvas.
Relined. Modern stretcher frame.
Frame of the XIX century.
Measurements: 77 x 63 cm; 93 x 78,5 cm (frame).

Oil attributed to Francesco Solimena, one of the great exponents of the Neapolitan Baroque, this scene of Maternity with San Juanito and the Agnus Dei is fully inscribed in the visual language characteristic of the master: theatrical composition, rich in gestures and contained emotion, sculptural treatment of the figures and a warm and sumptuous chromatism.

The Virgin, with a serene and youthful countenance, welcomes the Child Jesus in her lap, caressing his little feet with her long fingers. She reminds us of Solimena's feminine typologies: oval, idealized faces, alabaster skin modeled by a nuanced light, soft but absorbed gazes. The Child, with full flesh and confident attitude, establishes a visual dialogue with the mother, while, in the background, the figure of the little St. John the Baptist (with the Agnus Dei in his arms) balances the composition and adds a prefigured theological subtext.

The use of light is typical of the author: a slanted and enveloping illumination, which softly bathes the faces and bodies, contrasting with the more somber backgrounds, conferring depth and drama to the scene. The folds of the garments, particularly those of the Virgin, reveal the Solimenesque taste for restrained movement and textile richness, while the pyramidal arrangement of the figures suggests a classical influence filtered by late Baroque.

As a whole, the work shows a spirituality tempered by a theatricalized sensibility, unmistakable traits of Solimena, who knew how to articulate the legacy of Luca Giordano with a denser, more reflective and academic aesthetic.

Francesco Solimena was an Italian painter of the late Baroque, the main representative of the Neapolitan school of the first half of the 18th century. Francesco Solimena trained with his father, also a painter, and developed his career in Naples, where he settled in 1674. There he furthered his training with De Maria, in whose workshop he approached the most advanced baroque of Cortona, Lanfranco, Preti and Giordano. Already in his early works we can appreciate a clear affiliation to the Roman Baroque, as well as to the most recent Neapolitan pictorial tradition. Later, seeking to develop an alternative to Giordano's fanciful language, Solimena approached the more tenebrous art of Mattia Preti, insisting on greater plasticity. In this way, the shading that characterizes his figures will begin to appear in his work. Soon he will become the visible head of the Neapolitan school and, later, he will be influenced by the classicism of Maratta, which will lead him to seek a greater intensity in the drawing, with academic accents. Works by Solimena are currently held in the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery in London and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, among other public and private collections around the world.