Giordano, Luca

Giordano, Luca (1634–1705). Neapolitan painter, the most important Italian decorative artist of the second half of the 17th century. He was nicknamed ‘Luca Fa Presto’ (Luke work quickly) because of his prodigious speed of execution and huge output. His early works were in the tenebrist manner of Ribera (perhaps his teacher), but his style became much more colourful under the influence of such great decorative painters as Veronese, whose works he saw on his extensive travels. Indeed, he absorbed a host of influences and was said to be able to imitate other artists' styles with ease. His work was varied also in subject matter, although he was primarily a religious and mythological painter. In addition to the frescos for which he is principally famed, he produced a large number of easel paintings and was a prolific draughtsman. He worked mainly in Naples, but also extensively in Florence and Venice, and he was widely influential in Italy. In 1692 he was called to Spain by Charles II (see Habsburg) and stayed there for ten years, painting in Madrid, Toledo, and the Escorial. His last works, after his return to Naples, included the decoration of the dome of the Treasury Chapel of the Certosa di S. Martino (1704). He died a very wealthy man and one of the most famous artists in Europe. In his personal self-confidence and courtliness, and in the open, airy compositions and light luminous colours of his work, Giordano presages such great 18th-century painters as Tiepolo.