GIAQUINTO, CORRADO

Molfetta 1699–circa 1765 Naples

Corrado Giaquinto was a pupil of the Neapolitan artist Francesco Solimena (1657–1747). In 1727 he moved to Rome, where in 1740 he was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts. Giaquinto received numerous commissions both from Rome (for example for the painting of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme) and, beyond the confines of the city, from Turin and Naples. In 1753 he was appointed by King Ferdinand VI of Spain (1713–1759) to the court in Madrid, where he became director of the Royal Academy of San Fernando. While Giaquinto initially devoted himself to religious themes and was stylistically devoted to the Rococo, towards the end of his career as an artist, in keeping with the spirit of the times and public taste, he moved increasingly towards Classicism. In 1762, Giaquinto returned to Naples, where he died four years later.