Solimena, Francesco (1657–1747)

Italian baroque painter. He was active mostly in Naples and decorated many churches, among his best works being frescoes in S Paolo Maggiore, Naples, and his Last Supper (Assisi). His later works mark the move away from baroque extravagance to neoclassical restraint.

Solimena established a very high reputation and worked for such clients as Louis XIV of France and Prince Eugène of Savoy. He had a large and busy studio, and the Scottish painter Alan Ramsay was one of his pupils.