GIACINTO DIANO (attr. A)

(Pozzuoli, 1731 - Naples, 1803) Olindo and Sofronia, 1760 - c. 1770 Oil on canvas, 44.5X31.5 cm. Provenance: Rome, private collection The painting shows unmistakable Neapolitan characters and Giacinto Diano in particular. The scene depicted describes the episode from Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata in which Olindo and Sofronia, responsible for having stolen a Marian image held hostage by infidels, are condemned to the stake by King Aladdin and saved by the providential intervention of Clorinda. The composition proves to be very complex; in fact, at the figure of Sofronia who stands out in the upper right corner, the narrative develops, culminating with the arrival of Clorinda on horseback. In the background, obtained with cool tones, the walls of Jerusalem can be seen, while the foreground is marked by warm and soft color arrangements, in which turquoise, pink and a light Naples yellow predominate. These characteristics denote a dating of the work to his maturity, when the influences of Solimena and De Mura faded and the artist's style was modulated on rocaille and tendentially neoclassical models; he also showed a remarkable talent for fresco decoration, which he expressed on the ceilings of the Neapolitan noble palaces of the Serra di Cassano and Cellamare. Reference bibliography: N. Spinosa, Pittura napoletana del Settecento dal Rococò al Classicismo, Naples 1987, II, pp. 261-272