The Wadsworth Atheneum acquires important modello by Francesco Solimena

Robilant+Voena has sold an important painting by Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) to the Wadsworth Atheneum. The painting is a modello for the large fresco on the ceiling of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, and was painted as a proposal for appraisal by the Dominicans, before work on the church decoration began. The final fresco was painted between 1705 and 1707, measuring fourteen metres in length and five metres in width (this modello measures 229.5 x 93 cm).

Through this work, Solimena revolutionised Neapolitan painting, synthesising the influences of Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti and Pietro di Cortona, while incorporating the recent evolution in Roman painting under the brush of Carlo Maratta. The gracefully turning angels, the striking foreshortening and the upward thrust in the midst of the clouds, imbue the entire composition with a sense of swirling motion, demonstrating Solimena’s effortless shift from the Baroque to the Rococo. In this composition, Solimena took the painterly Neapolitan tradition and prised it open with a contemporary innovation of non-compartmentalised space, creating a cohesive and expansive overall effect.

Although there are several secondary versions between this modello and the final fresco – including simplified architectural elements and amended facial expressions of the putti – this is an exceptional early version of a decisive work in Solimena’s career, that transformed Neapolitan painting. The work is a significant acquisition for the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, a wonderful addition to their existing notable collection of Italian paintings from the 17^th- and 18^th-centuries.