Cabinet Pictures in Naples.
There is one painter who is mainly associated with cabinet painting in 17th century Naples- Aniello Falcone (1607-1656) who became famous for specialising in one genre - battle painting. Before that he worked in other genres such as religious art, e.g. Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Naples Cath). According to De Dominici Falcone trained with Ribera, but he probably left his studio at an early date.[1] He was highly regarded as a painter as he was included in the group of painters who decorated Philip IV’s Buen Retiro palace which show the influence of Castiglione. In conceiving the genre of Neapolitan battle painting, Falcone mixed the large-scale frescoed battles in the Sala di Constantino (Vatican) with the military scenes of the northern print-maker Jacques Callot. Falcone’s battle pictures (above) were often mistaken for his pupils Andrea di Leone (1610-85). Andrea was a complex painter who not only imitated the battle pictures of his master, but also specialised in mythological pictures, especially bacchanals. There was a vogue for neo-Venetian scenes inspired by Poussin, Castiglione and of course the Titian bacchanals that were in Naples. Poussin’s art was constantly referenced by Andrea, and some of the Neapolitan’s paintings have been attributed to the French master such as the Adoration of the Golden Calf (San Francisco). Another keen plunderer of Poussin was Salvator Rosa who also produced the odd battle picture, though he found more success with his landscapes which he peopled with philosophers and biblical figures.
[1] Bio in Painting in Naples, 153.
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