Attributed to Francesco de Mura (Italian, 1696-1782)
The Triumph of Judith

bears inscriptions (recto and verso)
pen & brown ink, brown & grey wash, squared for transfer in black chalk

Unframed (sheet): 27.8 x 34.4 cm. (11 x 13 1/2 in.) Mounted: 41 x 56 cm. (16 1/8 x 22 in.)

Prof. Luigi Schiapparelli (1871-1934), historian and palaeographer (inscribed upper right, verso)
Armando Perera (active c.1911- c.1950), gallerist, (signed lower right, recto)

Literature:
Nicola Spinosa, Francesco Solimena (1657-1747) e le arti a Napoli, Rome 2018, vol. I, p. 490, no. 227 (as ‘replica di bottega’ of the Triumph of Judith in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)

Here the handling is extremely close to that of De Mura’s known drawings, as are the facial types and varied drapery structures. Moreover, the squaring confirms that it is the modello for the studio replica of The Triumph of Judith by his master, Francesco Solimena (1657-1747). The painted replica, preserved in the Guildhall Collection, Abingdon-on-Thames, is not a straight copy, but a variation on Solimena’s original in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (no. 6915). De Mura omitted the head of the Medusa on the shield of the warrior standing at the right, but introduced a barking dog (left foreground), and replaced the child in Solimena’s original with a bearded dignitary (lower right corner).

There is an additional replica by another studio member in The Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester (New York State) which varies even more radically from Solimena’s original, yet includes details from
De Mura’s modello and the Abingdon Guildhall painting. Solimena frequently produced studio replicas of his most successful compositions and variations from the prime versions were not uncommon. The intention behind introducing such conspicuous variations into a celebrated composition may have been to reassure patrons that they were commissioning works that echoed the original, yet still displayed a measure of inventiveness as opposed to being mere copies.