Purissima
Joseph Stella
American, born Italy, 1877–1946

Details
Title
Purissima
Artist/Maker
Joseph Stella (American, born Italy, 1877–1946)
Date
1927
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
76 x 57 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from Harriet and Elliott Goldstein and High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund
Accession #
2000.206
On View
Currently not on view
Joseph Stella’s depictions of the world around him offered an idiosyncratic vision of the early 1900s. He found fame with a striking series of paintings featuring the Brooklyn Bridge. Always reinventing himself, however, he turned to a series inspired by the art and environment of his native Naples. Purissima is one in a series of exquisite, large-scale paintings featuring Madonnas painted to resemble early Christian icons and set in stylized, paradisiacal Italian landscapes. This example includes a view of the Mount Vesuvius gently erupting the distance.
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