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Andrea Vaccaro (May 8, 1605 - January 18, 1670)
Andrea Vaccaro
(May 8, 1605 - January 18, 1670) |
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Secular Portraits, Tenebrist style Art Work
| Name: |
Andrea Vaccaro |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Naples |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
May 8, 1605 |
| Death: |
January 18, 1670 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Secular Portraits, Tenebrist style |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Baroque, |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| One of the more academically inclined painters active in Naples during the second half of the century, Vaccaro looked to Guido Reni and van Dyck as well as Massimo Stanzione in the formulation of his numerous portrayals of saints and holy figures. Despite or perhaps because of a certain restraint in his work, Vaccaro maintained a sufficiently high quality in his paintings to be ranked among the significant Neapolitan painters active during the second half of the seventeenth century. Vaccaro first trained with Girolamo Imparato and then with Carlo Sellito and Caracciolo. He married Lucrezia d'Ambrosio, and they baptized a daughter in 1628. His activity is recorded from 1636 to 1670, when it is presumed he died. Vaccaro helped found the earliest Neapolitan "academy," the Fraternity of SS. Anna e Luca dei Pittori in 1665, and served as its rector until his death. His early phase includes copies from Caravaggio* (Flagellation in S. Domenico; the copy is in the same church) and Ribera (5/. Anthony of Padua, for the Sacristy of S. Ferdinando in Naples, now in Madrid). His independent paintings, such as the St. Sebastian of Naples, Capodimonte, demonstrate his careful studies from models, his vigorous draughtsmanship, and his response to Reni. Vaccaro's finest period is often called the decade between 1635 and 1645. At this time Bernardo Cavallino's influence added a certain delicacy to his work, as shown in his Death of St. Joseph (Naples, S. Maria del Purgatoria ad Arco, Capodimonte). His paintings tend to concentrate on a few figures arranged across the picture surface, calmly if powerfully posed. They could reach a high level of quality even later in his career. His scene of the Reconstruction of the Church of Lincoln (documented 1652, Naples, Chiesa di Certosa di San Martino) is a superbly achieved mixture of diversly posed nude figures flanking St. Hugo in the center. One of the highpoints of his later career was the commission from the Spanish viceroy in Naples, Gaspar de Bracamonte, who undertook the redecoration of the church of S. Maria del Pianto after the plague of 1656. He asked both Vaccaro and Luca Giordano for paintings of the Intercession of the Virgin for the Souls in Purgatory. Both were sent to Rome to be judged by Pietro da Cortona, Andrea Sacchi, and Gaulli. Da Cortona particularly admired Vaccaro's, which he deemed would become famous throughout Rome. Both artists' works are still in situ. Especially well represented in Spanish collections, among his most beautiful paintings include those portraying the story of Tobias; these are now preserved in Barcelona. |
Samples of Work
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