FRANCESCO SOLIMENA (attr. to) (Canale di Serino, 1657 - Barra, 1747) Saint Joseph with Child Oil on canvas, 90.2X72 cm The style and writing indicate a date to the years of the artist's youthful activity (1675-1680), thus to an early maturity reached recently and a style still influenced by Mattia Preti in Naples and Luca Giordano in the eighth decade. Having said this, the sources offer abundant evidence of Preti's importance in the formation of the Young Solimena and De Dominici himself recalls that the artist considered himself a pupil of the Calabrese even though he had never made his acquaintance (cf. Spike 1994). Moreover, Preti offered a clear stylistic alternative to Giordano's, in short, Solimena saw Preti as an opportunity to update his art in a Roman key. Reference bibliography: N. Spinosa, Pittura Napoletana del Settecento, dal Barocco al Rococò, Naples 1988, I, pp. 17-27 J. Spike, Rapporti fra Mattia Preti e Solimena, in Angelo e Francesco Solimena, due culture a confronto, Naples 1994, pp. 159-174 N. Spinosa, Francesco Solimena e le Arti a Napoli, Rome 2018, ad vocem