The Gathering of the Manna

This lively bozzetto depicting the Old Testament subject of the Gathering of the Manna exemplifies the art of Nicola Malinconico, one of the most accomplished followers of Luca Giordano in Naples at the turn of the eighteenth century. The son of the Stanzionesque painter Andrea Malinconico, Nicola trained under Giordano and became a principal disseminator of his master's decorative manner in Naples after the latter's departure for Spain in 1692. At the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, Malinconico became increasingly receptive to the art of Francesco Solimena, moving from the luminous, neo-Venetian colorism of Giordano toward a more tempered classicism and structural clarity. The present composition finds a close parallel in another bozzetto of the same subject, also by Malinconico and of comparable dimensions, formerly with the Galleria Marco Datrino at Torre Canavese (see A. della Ragione, 'La galleria dell'antiquario Marco Datrino, uno scrigno prezioso', December 2017, illustrated, accessed online, 18 December 2025).

We are grateful to Giuseppe Scavizzi for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs (written communication, 9 December 2025).