Luca Giordano | Court painter in Spain, 1692-1702

Luca Giordano** (1634-1705) was the leading Neapolitan painter of the later 17th century.

He was born in Naples and was trained by Ribera.

He was known as Fa Presto ('does it quickly') because of his speed of painting. His work influenced developments in 18th century art in Naples and elsewhere in Italy.

His style was formed by his experience of Neapolitan art (dominated by the work of Caravaggio), and by his knowledge of the leading Roman painters of the early 17th century notably Annibale Carracci, Pietro da Cortona, and the great Venetian artists of the 16th century.

Luca Giordano | Stile artistico

Luca Giordano (Napoli, 1634-1705) è stato un pittore Italiano, attivo soprattutto a Napoli, Madrid, Firenze, Venezia e Roma.

Fu uno dei principali esponenti della pittura napoletana del Seicento, assieme a Jusepe de Ribera, Salvator Rosa, Battistello Caracciolo, Massimo Stanzione, Bernardo Cavallino, Aniello Falcone, Andrea Vaccaro e Mattia Preti, nonché uno dei più influenti esponenti del barocco europeo.

La parabola evolutiva artistica del pittore si estende su più di 50 anni di carriera, nella quale assimila e rielabora influenze da tutte le principali correnti pittoriche secentesche.

Luca Giordano | Baroque Era painter

Luca Giordano, (born Oct. 18, 1634, Naples - died Jan. 3, 1705, Naples), the most celebrated and prolific Neapolitan painter of the late 17th century.

His nickname Luca Fa Presto (“Luca, Work Quickly”) is said to derive from his painter-copyist father’s admonitions, which were certainly heeded.

His other nickname, Proteus, was acquired as a result of his reputed skill in producing pastiches in the style of almost any artist.

Hieronymus Bosch | Northern Renaissance painter

Hiëronymus Bosch, also spelled Jheronimus Bos, pseudonym of Jeroen van Aeken, Aeken also spelled Aquen or Aken, also called Jeroen Anthoniszoon (born c. 1450, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Brabant [now in the Netherlands] - buried August 9, 1516, ’s-Hertogenbosch), brilliant and original northern European painter whose work reveals an unusual iconography of a complex and individual style.

He was recognized as a highly imaginative “creator of devils” and a powerful inventor of seeming nonsense full of satirical and moralizing meaning.

Alexi Zaitsev, 1959 | Impressionist painter

Алексей Зайцев was born in Ryazan, Russia. He graduated in 1983 from the Ulianov Art School and worked as a book and magazine illustrator at the Union of Journalists of the USSR. In 1990, Alexi Zaitsev began to show his work at various fine art exhibitions and soon became one of the most talked about young Russian artists.

Alexi Zaitsev`s works are in the permanent collections of the Institute of the Russian Economy and Culture, the Russian Embassy in Ireland, the Russian Embassy in Hungary and The Art Centre of Belfast, Ireland.

John Frederick Lewis | Victorian painter

John Frederick Lewis RA (London 14 July 1804 - 15 August 1876) is considered one of the most important Victorian artists to visit the Middle East.

The son of Frederick Christian Lewis, a successful engraver, he gained early success as a painter of animals and sporting subjects. In 1840-1 Lewis travelled, via Italy, Greece and Turkey, to Cairo, where he remained for the next ten years.

Lewis made nearly six hundred watercolours and drawings throughout the decade.