(Canale di Serino 1657–1747 Barra)
Portrait of Duca Annibale Marchese, half-length, in armour with a red sash, carrying a baton, a scene of battle beyond, the Marchese family coat-of-arms, lower right,
oil on canvas, 64.5 x 48.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Aristocratic European collection

Exhibited:
Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, Ritorno al Barocco. Da Caravaggio a Vanvitelli, 12 December 2009 – 11 April 2010

Literature:
F. Petrelli in: N. Spinosa (ed.), Ritorno al Barocco: da Caravaggio a Vanvitelli, exhibition catalogue, Naples 2009, I, p. 282, no. 1.152 (as Francesco Solimena);
N. Spinosa, Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) e le Arti a Napoli, Rome 2018, p. 555, no. 282 (as Francesco Solimena)

The sitter in the present portrait is Duca Annibale Marchese (1686–1753), Field Marshal, poet and intellectual. In his right hand, which rests on his hip, the nobleman holds a baton, referring to his military rank. In the background there is a battle scene in flames. His coat-of-arms is included in the bottom right corner of the composition.

On account of its composition, its expressive qualities and the manner of painting, this portrait can be dated to the 1730s. It can be compared to other portraits by Solimena of the period, especially the portrait of Count Aloys Thomas Raimund von Harrach, the Viceroy of Naples, (see Capolavori in festa. Effimero barocco a Largo di Palazzo (1683–1759), exhibition catalogue, Naples 1997, pp. 207–209, n. 2.4).

Among the best-known literary works of Annibale Marchese are Il Crispo, published in 1715 and Polissena, a poem published in 1716 and dedicated to Empress Elisabeth to celebrate the birth of Leopold, Archduke of Austria. His later work, the Tragedie cristiane, dates to 1729, recounts the stories of Christian martyrs, and it was illustrated by engravings after drawings, predominantly by Francesco Solimena, as well as Domenico Antonio Vaccaro and Francesco de Mura. Solimena also provided illustrations for Il Viticondo (1738), dedicated to Charles of Bourbon, King of Spain, King of Naples and Sicily and Duke of Parma and Piacenza) and his wife, Princess Maria on the occasion of their marriage. Later Annibale Marchese was given the position of Preside of the Province of Salerno.