FRANCESCO OLIVA Naples 1807 - 1861 Girl with small bunch of flowers Signed F Oliva and dated 1850 lower right Oil on canvas, 85X65 cm Provenance: Rome, Giosi collection Oliva represents an example of a 19th-century Neapolitan academic painter who moved between local education and Roman training, and who kept faith with the sacred, historical and portrait genres, at a time when new artistic languages were opening up. Although he is not considered a revolutionary of Neapolitan painting, his work is useful for understanding the academic scene and the commissions of the time in the two Sicilies: his training, exhibition, production of noble subjects and presence in institutions. An academic approach is evident in his paintings: attention to drawing, rigorous composition, elegant rendering of the figure in idealised pose as well as meticulous attention to detail