By Anne Leader
Painter Corrado Giaquinto was born on 8 February 1703 in Molfetta near Bari. After apprenticeships with Nicola Maria Rossi (ca. 1690-1758) and Francesco Solimena (1657-1747), he came under the influence of Luca Giordano and developed into one of the leading artists of the Italian Rococo. Based in Rome, Giaquinto excelled as both a fresco and easel painter. Giaquinto also worked in Madrid from 1753 to 1762, where he was appointed to serve as director of the Academia de San Fernando as well as supervisor of the royal tapestry factory. He completed fresco decorations for the Royal Chapel in the city’s Royal Palace and also produced canvases for the Palace at Aranjuez. The great Spanish artist Francisco Lucientes y Goya was deeply influenced by the Italian master, and he carried on his style after Giaquinto returned to Italy in 1762. Giaquinto spent the remainder of his career in Naples, where he died in 1766.
Reference: Irene Cioffi. “Giaquinto, Corrado.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
St Margaret Mary Alacoque Contemplating the Sacred Heart of Jesus, c. 1765.
Oil on canvas, Private collection.
Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1740-42. Oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Religion Protected by Spain, 1750s. Fresco, Palacio Real, Madrid
The Birth of the Sun and the Triumph of Bacchus, 1762-63. Fresco
Palacio Real, Madrid
Adoration of the Magi, c. 1725. Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Allegory of Justice and Peace, 1753-54. Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid