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Diego Pignatelli d'Aragona (1687–1750) and an Enslaved Servant

probably 1731 or 1732
Not on view
Diego Pignatelli, Duke of Terranova and a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, would have approved this small oil sketch before Solimena, the leading painter of eighteenth-century Naples, began the final portrait in life-size. The commission was probably prompted by Pignatelli’s elevation in 1731 to the Order of the Golden Fleece, whose robes and collar he proudly wears. In the seventeenth century, Van Dyck had popularized the grand, full-length format of a regal European accompanied by an exoticized, typically enslaved, African attendant.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Diego Pignatelli d'Aragona (1687–1750) and an Enslaved Servant
  • Artist: Francesco Solimena (Italian, Canale di Serino 1657–1747 Barra)
  • Date: probably 1731 or 1732
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 23 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. (59.1 x 46.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1967
  • Object Number: 67.102
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Jupiter with his Eagle (recto), Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen, brown ink, gray wash over black chalk
Jupiter with his Eagle (recto)
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747
Group of Allegorical figures: Sketch for a Ceiling Decoration ?, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen, brown ink, gray wash over black chalk
Group of Allegorical figures: Sketch for a Ceiling Decoration ?
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray, green, and rose washes over graphite
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples
Francesco Solimena
1690
The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera, Francesco Solimena Italian, Brush and black ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk (recto); small black chalk sketch of a nude male figure (verso)
The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera
Francesco Solimena
1728–33
The Continence of Scipio, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk
The Continence of Scipio
Francesco Solimena
1657–1747

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