St Bonaventure Receiving Banner from the Madonna After Francesco Solimena 38"

Description

Late 20th century oil painting on linen after "St. Bonaventure Receiving the Banner of St. Sepulchre from the Madonna" originally painted in 1710 by Francesco Solimena. Depicts the Vigrin Mary seated in heavenly glory on a pedestal, surrounded by saintly figures and cherubs / small angels, passing a blue banner to one of them. Ornate baroque floral and foliate molded frame with gold finish.

"Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. He received early training from his father, Angelo Solimena, with whom he executed a Paradise for the cathedral of Nocera (a place where he spent a big part of his life) and a Vision of St. Cyril of Alexandria for the church of San Domenico at Solofra. He settled in Naples in 1674, where he worked in the studio of Francesco di Maria. He was patronized early on, and encouraged to become an artist by Cardinal Vincenzo Orsini (later Pope Benedict XIII). By the 1680s, he had independent fresco commissions, and his active studio came to dominate Neapolitan painting from the 1690s through the first four decades of the 18th century. He modeled his art—for he was a highly conventional painter—after the Roman Baroque masters, Luca Giordano and Giovanni Lanfranco, and Mattia Preti, whose technique of warm brownish shadowing Solimena emulated. Solimena painted many frescoes in Naples, altarpieces, celebrations of weddings and courtly occasions, mythological subjects, characteristically chosen for their theatrical drama, and portraits. His settings are suggested with a few details—steps, archways, balustrades, columns—concentrating attention on figures and their draperies, caught in pools and shafts of light. Art historians take pleasure in identifying the models he imitated or adapted in his compositions. His numerous preparatory drawings often mix media, combining pen and ink, chalk, and watercolor washes. Francesco Solimena amassed a fortune and lived in sumptuous style founded on his success. He died at Barra, near Naples, in 1747 at the age of 89." (Source: Wikipedia)

Condition

Good Overall - Crazing to surface; gentle wear

Dimensions

32" x 2.5" x 38" / Sans Frame - 22.75" x 28.75" (Width x Depth x Height)