Francesco de Mura (21 April 1696 – 19 August 1782) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Naples and Turin. His late work reflects the style of neoclassicism.

Life

Francesco de Mura, also referred to as Franceschiello, was a pupil of Francesco Solimena, then later with Domenico Viola, where he met his contemporary, Mattia Preti.

While still in his teens he painted frescoes (1715) in San Nicola alla Carità in Naples. He painted ten canvases of the Virtues and an Adoration of the Magi (1728) for the church of Santa Maria Donnaromita. His other works include frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi (1732) in the apsidal dome of the church of the Nunziatella. De Mura also painted portraits.

Among his pupils were Pietro Bardellino,^[1] Giacinto Diano, Fedele Fischetti, Oronzo Tiso, Nicola Menzele and Girolamo Starace.^[2]

Selected works

Dated

• Saint Benedict Welcomes Totila (vers 1710), study for the frescoes at the church of Santi Severino e Sossio, Capodimonte Museum, Naples^[3]
• Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1725-1735), Courtauld Institute of Art, London
• Epiphany (1728), Santa Maria Donnaromita, Naples
• Adoration of the Magi (1732), Nunziatella, Naples
• Self-portrait (1740), oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• The Departure of Aeneas (c. 1740), huile sur toile, 102,5 x 129,5 cm, musée des beaux-arts de Brest, acquired 1969^[4]
• Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (1750), Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• The Visitation (c. 1750), Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Florida
• Horatius Killing his Sister after the Defeat of the Curiatii (c. 1760), oil on canvas, private collection
• The Continence of Scipio (1765), Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza
• L'Accord entre Camille et Turnus (1765), Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza
• Christ at the Column (1750–1760).
• St. John the Baptist (1760–1770).
• Assumption of the Virgin (drawing).

Undated

• Saint Vincent de Paul in Glory, Lazarist Church, Naples
• Assumption of the Virgin, Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario, Toronto
• Saint Ignatius de Loyola, Nunziatella, Naples
• Saint François Xavier Preaching to the Natives, Nunziatella, Naples
• Assumption of the Virgin, ceiling of the Nunziatella, Naples
• Portrait of count James Joseph O'Mahoney, lieutenant-general in the service of Naples, knight of Saint Januarius (c. 1748), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge^[5]
• The Virgin Mary Presenting a Portrait of Saint Dominic to the Monks of Soriano, Art Institute of Chicago
• The Virgin Mary Indicating the Monogram of Christ to Saint Ludovico di Gonzaga (c. 1750), Gesù Vecchio, Naples
• Allegory of the Arts, musée du Louvre, Paris
• Aurora and Tithon, oil on canvas, Capodimonte Museum, Naples
• The Wedding at Cana, Hôtel d'Agar collection, Cavaillon
• The Flight into Egypt, Hôtel d'Agar collection, Cavaillon

School of de Mura

• Portrait of Maria Xavieri Romano, Bowes Museum, County Durham, United Kingdom^[6]