The Education of the Virgin

Rossi was one of the leading rococo artists working in Naples in the second half of the 18th century. His finest works are arguably the four canvases depicting The Adoration of the Magi, The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Flight into Egypt and The Madonna and Child adored by the weak executed in 1758-9 for the church of Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili, Naples. This series is a fine example of the artist's talent for combining the somewhat heavy forms of Francesco Solimena with the softer lighting and more delicate palette of Francesco de Mura and Corrado Giaquinto. These same influences can also be seen in the figures in The Education of the Virgin - with the deeply shadowed folds of their clothing softened by the pearlescent colors - and a similar dating to the second half of the 1750s would seem correct.