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January 20 – April 2 , 2017

Pleasant T . Rowland Galleries

This first-ever retrospective of one of the greatest painters of

the Golden Age of Naples features two works from the Chazen ’ s permanent collection and is curated by Dr . Arthur Blumenthal , who , from 1968 – 1974 , was the first curator of the Elvehjem Art Center , now the Chazen Museum of Art .

In Naples , Italy , Francesco de Mura ’ s refined and elegant compositions , with their exquisite light and color , heralded the late Baroque style called Rococo , while his later classicist style led to the simplicity and sculptural quality of Neoclassicism . In the Light of Naples reveals the power of de Mura ’ s work through more than forty paintings and drawings , including oil sketches of his great frescoes and key paintings . The exhibition features religious and classical subjects , and portraits . The works are on loan from thirty American and European museums and private collections , including the Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Art Institute of Chicago , and the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples .

Francesco de Mura ( Italian 1696 – 1782 ), Madonna and Child with Infant St . John the Baptist , ca . 1745-50 , oil on copper , 12 x 9 ½ in ., collection of Federico Castelluccio