St Maurus Healing the Sick
by SOLIMENA, Francesco, Oil on canvas, 75 x 153 cm
This painting is one of the oil sketches originally made for the large-scale paintings of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, depicting scenes from the lives of the order’s founder, St Benedict of Nursia, and his peers. Founded around 530, the abbey was bombed on 15 February 1944. All masterpieces of Neapolitan painting, including the four pictures decorating the choir, were destroyed, along with the Baroque church and monastery.