Neapolitan school; second third of the XVIII century.

Neapolitan school; second third of the eighteenth century.
"The Assumption of the Virgin".
Oil on canvas.
It has a period frame.
Measurements: 52 x 39 cm; 69 x 48 cm (frame).
Showing the earthly and heavenly aspect of the Christian religion, the artist divides the space of this canvas in two. A lower area in which the apostles raise their gaze to the sky, catching sight of the Virgin. The upper area defined by a background dominated by a large cloud that serves as a support for the figure of the Virgin. The expression Assumption is significant: it is opposed to Ascension, like the passive to the active. That is, Mary does not ascend to heaven by her own means, like Christ, but is raised to Paradise by the angels. Byzantine art represents the Assumption of the Virgin's soul, collected by Christ on his deathbed. On the other hand, Western art depicts her bodily Assumption outside the tomb where the apostles had buried her. Therefore, a distinction must be made in iconography between the Assumption of the Virgin's soul in the form of a child and the Assumption of her glorious body, the latter being the one represented here. The European model presents Mary in a prayerful attitude, with joined hands, surrounded by golden light, carried by angels and leaving the open tomb at her feet, which may appear empty or full of lilies and roses. Because of an iconographic confusion, the Assumption will lose its original character to become Ascension, as it happens in this work. Instead of being lifted by angels, the Virgin flies alone, with her arms outstretched; the angels surrounding her are limited to form a procession. This transformation was consummated in Italian art in the 16th century, and progressively spread throughout the rest of Europe. However, this new formula did not eliminate the old one, of which we find examples in the 17th century. This painting stands out for the artist's interest in the plastic based on his workmanship and chromatism.
Due to its formal characteristics we can relate this work to Francesco Solimena, Italian painter of the late Baroque, 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.