Paolo de Matteis Piano del Cilento, Salerno 1662 - 1728 Naples

A painter and a silversmith, Paolo de Matteis travelled to Naples as a young man and trained there under Luca Giordano, whose influence permeates much of De Matteis' output. He then travelled to Rome where he began working for the Spanish ambassador, Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, and his works tend towards the classical style of Carlo Maratta, whom De Matteis came to admire greatly. In 1683 De Haro was appointed Viceroy of Naples and De Matteis followed his patron back there, remaining in Naples until 1701. The present work probably dates from the 1690s, that is after De Matteis' Roman sojourn and after his return to Naples: the painting successfully illustrates De Matteis' characteristic mix of the classicism of the Carracci and Carlo Maratta (as exemplified by the Madonna) with the more painterly baroque style of Giordano (as seen in the angel). The angel here may be compared to the figure of Apollo in De Matteis' painting of Apollo and Daphne in the collection of James A. Coughlin, Berkeley (California) (see N. Spinosa, Pittura napoletana del Settecento dal Barocco al Rococò, Naples 1986, vol. I, p. 132, cat. no. 114, reproduced p. 252, fig. 135).