Francesco de Mura

Francesco Mura
Self-portrait, c. 1740
Born21 April 1696
Died19 August 1782(1782-08-19) (aged 86)

Francesco de Mura (21 April 1696 – 19 August 1782) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Naples and Turin. His late work reflects the style of neoclassicism.

Life

Francesco de Mura, also referred to as Franceschiello, was a pupil of Francesco Solimena, then later with Domenico Viola, where he met his contemporary, Mattia Preti.

While still in his teens he painted frescoes (1715) in San Nicola alla Carità in Naples. He painted ten canvases of the Virtues and an Adoration of the Magi (1728) for the church of Santa Maria Donnaromita. His other works include frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi (1732) in the apsidal dome of the church of the Nunziatella. De Mura also painted portraits.

Among his pupils were Pietro Bardellino,[1] Giacinto Diano, Fedele Fischetti, Oronzo Tiso, Nicola Menzele, Vincenzo De Mita and Girolamo Starace.[2]

Selected works

Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
Allegory of arts

Dated

Undated

  • Saint Vincent de Paul in Glory, Lazarist Church, Naples
  • Assumption of the Virgin, Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario, Toronto
  • Saint Ignatius de Loyola, Nunziatella, Naples
  • Saint François Xavier Preaching to the Natives, Nunziatella, Naples
  • Assumption of the Virgin, ceiling of the Nunziatella, Naples
  • Portrait of count James Joseph O'Mahoney, lieutenant-general in the service of Naples, knight of Saint Januarius (c. 1748), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge[5]
  • The Virgin Mary Presenting a Portrait of Saint Dominic to the Monks of Soriano, Art Institute of Chicago
  • The Virgin Mary Indicating the Monogram of Christ to Saint Ludovico di Gonzaga (c. 1750), Gesù Vecchio, Naples
  • Allegory of the Arts, musée du Louvre, Paris
  • Aurora and Tithon, oil on canvas, Capodimonte Museum, Naples
  • The Wedding at Cana, Hôtel d'Agar collection, Cavaillon
  • The Flight into Egypt, Hôtel d'Agar collection, Cavaillon

School of de Mura

  • Portrait of Maria Xavieri Romano, Bowes Museum, County Durham, United Kingdom[6]

References

  1. ^ Vicende della coltura nelle due Sicilie, by Pietro Napoli-Signorelli. Volume II, 2nd edition, Naples (1811); page 252.
  2. ^ Le belle arti, Volumes 1-2, By Giovanni Battista Gennaro Grossi, Tipografia del Giornale Enciclopedico, Strada del Salvadore a Sant'Angelo a Nilo #48, Naples (1820); page 194.
  3. ^ Nicola Spinosa, The National Museum of Capodimonte, Electa Napoli, 1996, 303 p. (ISBN 88-435-5600-2), p. 142
  4. ^ (in French) Renaissance du Musée de Brest, acquisitions récentes : [exposition], Musée du Louvre, Aile de Flore, Département des Peintures, 25 October 1974-27 January 1975, Paris, 1974, 80 p.
  5. ^ "Catalogue entry".
  6. ^ "ArtUK entry".