The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 15, 2026

A vertically oriented oil painting depicts the Risen Christ appearing to the Virgin Mary, both with light skin tones. On our right, Christ stands draped in light green cloth, reaching one hand toward Mary while holding a banner with a red cross. To our left, Mary sits in a pink dress and blue cloak. Winged child figures surround them against a dark background. Scattered pink and white roses lie on the floor.

The Risen Christ Appearing to the Virgin

c. 1708

Francesco Solimena

(Italian, 1657–1747)
Italy, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 250.2 x 197.5 x 12.7 cm (98 1/2 x 77 3/4 x 5 in.); Unframed: 222.5 x 169.5 cm (87 5/8 x 66 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1971.63
Location: 217 Italian Baroque

Description

The dramatic contrasts of light and dark reveal the long aftereffects of Caravaggio in Naples. Yet, the elegant forms, rich colors, and perfected body of Christ have far more affinities with the idealizing strand of Italian art in the 1600s and 1700s. Solimena sought to improve on nature, based on the study of antiquity, aiming to create a work of grandeur and nobility meant to inspire reverence and devotion appropriate to the holy subject.
  • 1970
    Purchased by the Heim Gallery from an unidentified church in France.
    1971
    Purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Heim Gallery.
  • Bologna, Ferdinando. Francesco Solimena. Napoli: L’Arte tipografica, 1958. Mentioned: pp. 189; 252
    Réau, Louis. Iconographie de L’art Chrétien. [1. éd.]. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1959. Mentioned: p. 555
    Causa, Raffaello. Opere d’Arte Nel Pio Monte Della Misericordia a Napoli. Cava dei Tirreni: Mauro, 1970.
    The Heim. Fourteen Important Neapolitan Paintings. London: Heim, 1971. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented by The Heim, May 13, 1971–August 28, 1971.
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1971.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (January 1972): 3–46. Reproduced: p. 10; Mentioned: p. 42, no. 55 www.jstor.org
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. “An Important Addition to Solimena’s Oeuvre.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 8 (October 1972): 219–227. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 217-219, Cover, fig. 1 www.jstor.org
    Olszewski, Edward J. “A Rediscovered Holy Family by Francesco Trevisani.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 1 (January 1977): 25–36. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 27-28, fig. 3 www.jstor.org
    Olszewski, Edward J. “A Rediscovered Holy Family by Francesco Trevisani.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 1 (1977): 25–36. Reproduced: p. 27–8; Mentioned: p. 36 (a), no. 5 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 140 archive.org
    Spinosa, Nicola, and Palazzo reale (Naples, Italy). Pittura Sacra a Napoli Nel ’700. Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1980.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 417-419; Reproduced: p. 418
    Spinosa, Nicola. Pittura Napoletana Del Settecento : Dal Barocco Al Rococò. Napola: Electa, 1986. Reproduced: p. 192; Mentioned: p. 107, no. 24
    Yale University Art Gallery, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A Taste for Angels : Neapolitan Painting in North America, 1650–1750. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Art Gallery, 1987. Reproduced: p. 203; Mentioned: p. 202
    Spear, Richard E. “Neapolitan Baroque Painting. Sarasota.” The Burlington Magazine 130, no. 1018 (1988): 60–62. Reproduced: p. 61; Mentioned: p. 60–62. www.jstor.org
    Marandel, J. Patrice. "Dealing and Scholarship: The Heim Gallery, London, 1966-1995." In Buying Baroque: Italian Seventeenth-Century Paintings Come to America. Bowron, Edgar Peters. ed. University Park, Pennsylvania : The Frick Collection, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 87-88
    Spinosa, Nicola. Francesco Solimena (1657-1747) e le arti a Napoli Roma : Ugo Bozzi editore s.r.l., 2018. Mentioned & Reproduced: p. 369, fig. 147
  • Neapolitan Paintings in North America. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. (September 9, 1987–December 6, 1987).
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
    Fourteen Important Neapolitan Paintings. The Heim, London (May 13, 1971–August 28, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=The Risen Christ Appearing to the Virgin|url=false|author=Francesco Solimena|year=c. 1708|access-date=15 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.63