Spanish school of the 17th century. Circle of FRANCESCO SOLIMENA (Italy, 1657 - 1747). "God the Father or Salvatore Mundi". Oil on canvas. Re-tinted. Restorations. Size: 101 x 88,5 cm; 104 x 91 cm (frame). The theme of the "Salvador Mundi" represents the Christological concept of Jesus Christ as Universal Saviour in relation to his role as judge in the Final Judgement and Redeemer. As in the work we are auctioning, this iconography shows Christ raising his right hand in a sign of blessing, while holding an orb with his left, emphasising the universal nature of Christian doctrine. From its formal characteristics we can relate this work to the circle of Francesco Solimena, an Italian painter of the late Baroque period, the principal representative of the Neapolitan school of the first half of the 18th century. Francesco Solimena trained with his father, also a painter, and developed his career in Naples, where he settled in 1674. There he furthered his training with De Maria, in whose studio he became familiar with the more advanced Baroque style of Cortona, Lanfranco, Preti and Giordano. His early works reveal a clear affinity with the Roman Baroque as well as with the more recent Neapolitan pictorial tradition. Later, seeking to develop an alternative to Giordano s fanciful language, Solimena approached the darker art of Mattia Preti, insisting on greater plasticity. Thus the shading that characterises his figures began to appear in his work. He soon became the visible head of the Neapolitan school and was later influenced by the classicism of Maratta, which led him to seek a greater intensity in his drawing with academic accents. Works by Solimena are now in the Museo del Prado, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery in London and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, among other public and private collections throughout the world.