Filippo Napoletano, whose real name was Filippo Teodoro di Liagno (or Teodoro Filippo de Liagno) (c. 1587-89 – November 1629) was an Italian artist, with a varied output, mainly

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

and

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

and also drawings or etchings of diverse, often particular, items such as exotic soldiers, skeletons of animals, or cityscapes.

Biography

Born in Rome, he moved as a child with his family to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where he began his career (1600–1613). He moved to Rome around 1614. He was influenced by successful Flemish landscape painters in Italy such as

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his Landscape art, landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. ...

Gottfried Wals Gottfried Wals, or Goffredo Wals (c. 1595 – 1638) was a German painter who spent most of his career in Italy. He was sometimes referred to as Goffredo Tedesco (Goffredo the German). Biography Little is known about his early life, except t ...

, and

Adam Elsheimer Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome, who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century in the field of Baroque paintings. His relatively few paintings were sma ...

. He became one of the artistic protégés of Cardinal Del Monte. In 1617 Cosimo II de’ Medici summoned him to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where he worked closely with

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and drawing, draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine. He is an important person in the development of the old master print. He made more than 1,400 etchings that chronicled the life of his peri ...

. He held the post of court painter to the Medici family and was highly esteemed for his original works with their wealth of dramatic, nocturnal scenes. From notebooks, Filippo is known to have made hundreds of sketches of Tuscan landscapes and towns. After his return to Rome in 1621, he combined easel painting with fresco decorations featuring views of the countryside in the region of Lazio with ancient Roman ruins. Napoletano's eclectic output recalls the nature focus of the Tuscan contemporary

Jacopo Ligozzi Jacopo Ligozzi (1547–1627) was an Italian painter, illustrator, designer, and miniaturist. His art can be categorized as late-Renaissance and Mannerism, Mannerist styles. Biography Born in Verona, he was the son of the artist Giovanni Erma ...

. Starting in 1620 he reproduced in etchings part of his collection of animal skeletons owned by

Johann Faber Johann Faber (1478 – 21 May 1541) was a Catholic theologian known for his writings opposing the Protestant Reformation and the growing Anabaptist movement. Biography Johann Faber, the son of a blacksmith, was born in Leutkirch, Swabia and ...

, a Bavarian physician-naturalist residing in Rome and a member of the scientific

Accademia dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...

. In 1622, Napoletano published twelve etchings of caprices ('' capricci'') and military uniforms (which he signed as signed ''Teodor Filippo de Liagno''). He is described by

Giovanni Baglione Giovanni Baglione (; 1566 – 30 December 1643) was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. Although a prolific painter, Baglione is best remembered for his encyclopedic collection of biographies of the o ...

as possessing a collection, a ''

wunderkammer Cabinets of curiosities ( and ), also known as wonder-rooms ( ), were encyclopedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Although more rudimentary collections had preceded them, t ...

'' of ''bellissime bizzarrie'' ("beautiful bizarre objects"), including among the objects exotic weaponry; fossilized plants; tiger, lion, and turtle skulls; oriental

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

and sculpted crockery; a vest made of human skin; a harness for dragging whales on ice; a three-legged flea, Persian uniforms, and antiquities such as Roman coins,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

lamps, and a few statuettes. After Napoletano's death at Rome in 1628, bidding for such material was made by collectors such as Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini (future

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

) and

Cassiano dal Pozzo Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588 – 22 October 1657) was an Italian scholar and patron of arts. The secretary of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, he was an antiquary in the classicizing circle of Rome, and a long-term friend and patron of Nicolas Poussin ...

Works

* ''Navires amarrés dans une rade, au pied d'une forteresse rocheuse'', pencil, brown ink, brown lavish, black stone, , Paris,

Beaux-Arts de Paris The (), formally the (), is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level fine arts education and training. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is located on two sites: Saint-G ...

.Sous la direction d’Emmanuelle Brugerolles, ''Le Paysage à Rome, Carnets d’études 30,'' Beaux-Arts de Paris les éditions, 2015, p. 35-37, Cat. 7. Filippo Napoletano - Two Shells - WGA16433.jpg, Two Shells,

Pitti Palace The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

Filippo Napoletano - Naval Battle - WGA16430.jpg, Naval battle,

Opificio delle Pietre Dure The Opificio delle pietre dure, literally meaning "Workshop of semi-precious stones", is a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage based in Florence. It is a global leader in the field of art restoration and provides teachin ...

Museum, Florence Filippo Napoletano - River Landscape - WGA16431.jpg, River Landscape, Pitti Palace Filippo Napoletano - Seller of Snails - WGA16432.jpg, Seller of Snails, Pitti Palace Filippo napoletano, la fiera dell'impruneta, 1618, da galleria palatina.JPG, Fiera (Festival) of

Impruneta Impruneta is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000. Name and production The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and ...

(1618), Pitti Palace Filippo Napoletano - Dante and Virgil in the Underworld - WGA16429.jpg, Dante and Virgil in the Underworld (c. 1622)

Notes

References

* Domenico Sedini
Filippo Teodoro di Liagno
online catalogu
Artgate
by

Fondazione Cariplo Fondazione Cariplo is a charitable foundation in Milan, Italy. It was created in December 1991 when the Amato law, Law no. 218 of 30 July 1990, came into force. Under this law, saving banks were required to separate into a not-for-profit foun ...

, 2010,
Artnet biography from Grove encyclopedia or Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napoletano, Filippo 1580s births 1629 deaths 16th-century Neapolitan people Italian etchers 17th-century etchers 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters Italian still life painters Italian genre painters Painters from Naples 17th-century Neapolitan people