Adam and Eve in Paradise
c. 1700
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
128.2 × 101 cm (50 1/2 × 39 3/4 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
101077
Art Historical Context
Francesco Solimena’s *Adam and Eve in Paradise* captures the serene moment before the biblical Fall, when humanity still dwelled in harmony with nature. Painted around 1700 in Naples, the work reflects the late Baroque period’s taste for dramatic religious subjects. Solimena, one of the leading artists of southern Italy, often infused sacred stories with theatrical energy and rich color, appealing to both church patrons and private collectors during a time when art served as both devotion and spectacle. Executed in oil on canvas, the medium allowed Solimena to achieve luminous skin tones, lus...
About the Artist
Francesco Solimena · 1657–1747
Comment on works: History; Religious