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The Abduction of Orithyia
(Baroque Europe )
This composition, a copy of a replica of around 1730 by the great Neapolitan artist Solimena after his own earlier painting of 1701, represents a scene adapted from "The Metamorphoses," the famous poem on the loves of the gods by the 1st-century Roman author Ovid. The north wind Boreas was in love with Orithya, the daughter of the king of Athens. She refused him, and, in anger, the god abducted the frightened young woman from amid her maidens-in-waiting. Flying cupids (little gods of love) symbolize the passion that motivated Boreas. The dramatic use of flickering patches of light and shadow is characteristic of Solimena's style although the color is less intense. Copies of popular compositions were avidly bought for inclusion in decorative arrangements.
For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 431, p. 543.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unkonwn] [1881 catalogue: no. 230; 1897 catalogue: no. 454]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1995-1996 | Going for Baroque. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1987-1988 | A Taste for Angels: Neapolitan Painting in North America, 1650-1750. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City. |
| 1953-1954 | Flight, Fantasy, Faith, Fact. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton. |
Geographies
Italy, Naples (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Painted surface H: 38 7/8 x W: 53 1/4 in. (98.8 x 135.2 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1695