In chiesa

Born in Salerno in 1858, Antonio Esposito was highly regarding in the burgeoning Neapolitan school of painting. A close friend of Antonio Mancini, his work is known for its vivacious play of the brush and for its complex tonalities. He is perhaps best known for imbuing his paintings with intense chiaroscuro, a deep contrasting play between light and shadow. The present work must be a second version of the prime version In Chiesa, exhibited in Naples in 1877 and published in A. Schettini, La Pittura Napoletana dell'Ottocento, Naples, 1967, vol. II, p. 104.