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The Birth of the Virgin

ca. 1690
Not on view

Painted in the 1690s, the picture must have served as an altarpiece in a church in Naples. In the foreground the infant Virgin Mary is shown to nurses and her adoring father, while in the distance, enveloped in a heavenly radiance, is the child’s mother, Anna, lying in bed, attended by servants. Solimena became the leading painter of Naples, training a generation of artists. However, in this painting, with its dark shadows and vigorous figures, he has notably recalled the work of his celebrated predecessor, Luca Giordano, who in 1692 had moved to Madrid to work for King Charles III.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Birth of the Virgin
  • Artist: Francesco Solimena (Italian, Canale di Serino 1657–1747 Barra)
  • Date: ca. 1690
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 80 1/2 x 67 1/4 in. (204.5 x 170.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
  • Object Number: 07.66
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Jupiter with his Eagle (recto), Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen, brown ink, gray wash over black chalk
Jupiter with his Eagle (recto)
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747
Group of Allegorical figures: Sketch for a Ceiling Decoration ?, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen, brown ink, gray wash over black chalk
Group of Allegorical figures: Sketch for a Ceiling Decoration ?
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray, green, and rose washes over graphite
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples
Francesco Solimena
1690
The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera, Francesco Solimena Italian, Brush and black ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk (recto); small black chalk sketch of a nude male figure (verso)
The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera
Francesco Solimena
1728–33
The Continence of Scipio, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk
The Continence of Scipio
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747

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