- 170
Francesco Solimena
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Description
- Francesco Solimena
- Noli me tangere
- oil on canvas
Provenance
In a family collection from before 1900 until sold, New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 1998, lot 41, for $77,000 to the present owner.
Catalogue Note
On the basis of photographs, Professor Nicola Spinosa confirmed the attribution of this painting to Solimena in 1998, pointing out that it is a bozzetto, one of several known, which he dates circa 1710-20.
There is no record of a full-scale altarpiece like this by Solimena, and it may be the case that he provided the design for a pupil to execute. A large-scale arched-top version of this composition in the Refectory of the Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie in Cerreto Sannità has been attributed, along with several other large canvases of similar shape, to Solimena's pupil Paolo de Falco, who is known to have painted replicas based on his master's modelli. The Cerreto Sannità picture incorporates a number of changes.
There is no record of a full-scale altarpiece like this by Solimena, and it may be the case that he provided the design for a pupil to execute. A large-scale arched-top version of this composition in the Refectory of the Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie in Cerreto Sannità has been attributed, along with several other large canvases of similar shape, to Solimena's pupil Paolo de Falco, who is known to have painted replicas based on his master's modelli. The Cerreto Sannità picture incorporates a number of changes.