Although his exact date of birth is unknown, Filippo Falciatore was likely born in Naples towards the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. He is documented as active between 1741 and 1768. A key proponent of the Neapolitan rococo style, Falciatore worked prolifically, active at the court of Charles VII of Naples, and undertaking both private and public commissions, including decorative schemes for notable churches and palazzi across Naples and the surrounding areas.
As a young man Falciatore was apprenticed to the painter Paolo De Matteis, before moving to the studio of Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, whose style was to greatly influence the young Falciatore.
The earliest series of Falciatore's works that can be firmly dated are the frescoes in the sacristy of the Carmine Maggiore in Naples, which he painted in 1741, replacing previous decorations by Giovanni Balducci. Other early works from the artist's career that have since been lost include the frescoes in the palace of Nicolò Pignatelli, Duke of Monteleone, and also in the palace of the Duke of Brunasso, alongside other decorative works in the churches of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli and the Santissima Trinità delle Monache.
In the 1750s, when the artist was at his most prolific, he continued to produce numerous works on sacred and profane subjects, including biblical scenes, subjects from classical mythology, and genre scenes, often depicting masquerades, concerts, or fêtes galantes, as has been pioneered and popularised by Watteau earlier in the century. Several of Falciatore's paintings from this era are today in important public collections, including a copper depicting Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA), two canvases showing Raid of the Pirates and Raid of the Brigands (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart), and Concert in a Garden and Tarantella at Mergellina (Detroit Institute of Arts, MI). These later genre scenes demonstrate the artist's progression towards creating compositions with rich narratives and light-hearted atmospheres, that appear like a true 'rococo capriccio', as described by Nicola Spinosa.
His later works include an Immaculate Conception dated 1763 for the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Cicciano, near Naples, and a painting Assault on a cart of Prisoners in the Foro Carolino from 1764 (which appeared on the New York art market). His last known work is a Baptism of Christ, signed and dated 1768, in the church of San Giovanni in Trani.
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