101 - Leonardo Antonio Olivieri (Martina Franca, 1689 – Naples, 1752) Madonna and Child Surrounded by Saints Oil on canvas, 75x62 cm

Leonardo Antonio Olivieri (Martina Franca, 1689 – Naples, 1752) Madonna and Child Surrounded by Saints Oil on canvas, 75x62 cm Provenance: Casa Santangelo Collection, Naples. The canvas presented here serves as a dramatic example of 18th-century devotional painting, attributable to the work of Leonardo Antonio Olivieri (Martina Franca, 1689 – Naples, 1752).Having trained in Naples in the studio of Francesco Solimena, the artist became known for carrying on his master’s stylistic idiom—interpreted here with a marked sense of theatricality. Indeed, the work displays strong affinities with the Neapolitan painting tradition of the first half of the 18th century, evident both in its monumental compositional structure and in the artist’s use of color, which relies on bold chiaroscuro contrasts to define the forms and the intricate drapery of the figures.CASA SANTANGELO COLLECTION