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Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.
Study for a Church Ceiling
Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.
Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Study for a Church Ceiling

Artist Francesco Solimena (Italian, 1657-1747)
Dateca. 1700
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 60 x 44 1/2 in. (152.4 x 113 cm)
ClassificationsEuropean art
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in honor of Irvine B. Hill
Object number71.610
Terms
  • Religion
On View
On view
DescriptionOil on canvas painting of Christ and the Virgin Mary supported by angels on clouds. Christ is either crowning Mary - the assumption of the Virgin - or this is a depiction of the immaculate conception.

Label TextFrancesco Solimena Italian, 1657–1747 Study for a Church Ceiling, ca. 1700 Oil on canvas Imagine looking up at a church ceiling and seeing this frenzied scene. Angels—all pictured from below—dart around as the Virgin Mary rises up to accept a crown. Entrusted to only the most accomplished artists, such large projects required careful planning, and artists regularly prepared fully detailed models like this one to test compositional ideas. Francesco Solimena’s model would have connected churchgoers to the heavenly world it depicts. Unfortunately, we do not know if his dramatic scene ultimately adorned an actual ceiling. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in honor of Irvine B. Hill 71.610
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