Biography

(l ´kä j rdä´n ) (KEY) , 1632–1705, Italian decorative painter, b. Naples. He was the pupil of Ribera and Pietro da Cortona. He imitated the works of the great masters with amazing speed and facility and ultimately based his style upon those of Veronese and Cortona. Giordano decorated the cupola of the Corsini Chapel and a ceiling in the Palazzo Riccardi (1682–83), both in Florence. In 1692 he went to Madrid, where he remained ten years and produced numerous works in oil and in fresco, achieving fame and wealth. On the death of his patron Charles II, he accompanied Philip V to Naples. His pictures are in the leading European galleries, particularly those of Madrid, Vienna, and Naples. His best-known frescoes in Naples include The Story of Judith (San Martino) and Christ Expelling the Traders from the Temple (San Filippo Neri). In Spain he painted airy and luminous frescoes in the Chapel of San Lorenzo and in the Escorial, Madrid, and in the churches and palaces of Madrid and Toledo.

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