The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Art History THE DOCUMENTED PAINTINGS AND LIFE OF ANDREA VACCARO (1604-1670) A Thesis in Art History by Anna Kiyomi Tuck-Scala Ó 2003 Anna Kiyomi Tuck-Scala Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2003 The thesis of Anna Kiyomi Tuck-Scala was reviewed and approved* by the following: Jeanne Chenault Porter Associate Professor of Art History Thesis Adviser Chair of Committee Roland E. Fleischer Professor Emeritus of Art History George L. Mauner Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art History Alfred A. Triolo Associate Professor Emeritus of Italian and Spanish Craig Zabel Associate Professor of Art History Head of the Department of Art History *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This dissertation takes stock of what is known about Andrea Vaccaro (1604- 1670), one of the most prominent painters of Naples in the middle of the seventeenth- century. Although successful during his lifetime, Vaccaro currently suffers a reputation that is, at best, second rate. Due to the hundreds of paintings attributed to Vaccaro of dubious quality, modern art historians characterize his art as “eclectic” and “academic.” The sole monograph on Vaccaro, Maria Commodo Izzo’s Andrea Vacccaro pittore (1604-1670) published in 1951, is also sorely out of date. This study provides a new and more accurate portrayal of the artist. Rather than the customary all-inclusive approach, this study is based on the solid foundation of all known documents about the artist’s life and art, which are gathered and analyzed in one place for the first time. An overview of Vaccaro’s career organized in three sections provides an original assessment of the artist. Vaccaro’s early period (ca. 1604-1636) is the least documented and therefore the least understood. An analysis of different speculations on his formation reveals the biases of those who propose them. I also suggest a model employed by the eighteenth-century biographer Bernardo De Dominici for characterizing Vaccaro and his artistic advancement. Vaccaro’s mature (ca. 1636-1660) and late (ca. 1660-1670) periods are studded with documented artistic activity for both private and public patrons. In my chronological discussion of the paintings, stylistic and iconographic links are made in order to revise the wide-spread perception of Vaccaro’s so-called eclecticism. The results of this study demonstrate that Vaccaro was a good painter, on par with his contemporaries Massimo Stanzione and Bernardo Cavallino. In addition, contrary to iv what is believed, Vaccaro’s art and reputation did not decline as he grew older and he was not immediately eclipsed by Luca Giordano. Instead, numerous prestigious church commissions, his post as the first prefetto of the renewed Corporation of Painters, and a variety of other documented activity attest to his artistic importance and the public recognition he enjoyed before he died in 1670, making him a model religious painter of the period. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………….................................................... x SECTION I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. EARLY LIFE AND ARTISTIC FORMATION (1604-ca. 1636) 13 III. MATURE PERIOD (ca. 1636-1660) 25 IV. LATE PERIOD (ca. 1660-1670) 43 V. CONCLUSION 62 CATALOGUE OF DOCUMENTED WORKS…………………................................67 APPENDIX A: MARY MAGDALEN .......................................................................165 APPENDIX B: DOCUMENTS ..................................................................................172 APPENDIX C: FIGURES...........................................................................................198 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................230 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 (page 198) Caravaggio, Flagellation, Naples, Church of San Domenico Maggiore. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 2 (page 199) Andrea Vaccaro, Penitent Mary Magdalen (1636), Naples, Certosa di San Martino, Chapel of Mary Magdalen. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 3 (page 200) Andrea Vaccaro, Temptation of Christ in the Desert (1641), Naples, formerly Church of Santa Maria della Sapienza. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 4 (page 201) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Teresa’s Vision of the Golden Collar (1642), Madrid, Academia de San Fernando. Photo from Giuseppe De Vito, “Appunti per Andrea Vaccaro con una nota su alcune copie del Caravaggio che esistevano a Napoli,” Ricerche sul ’600 napoletano: Scritti in memoria di Raffaello Causa (1994-1995) (1996): 81. Figure 5 (page 202) Andrea Vaccaro, Triumph of David, Naples, Museo di Capodimonte. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 6 (page 203) Andrea Vaccaro, Death of Saint Joseph (1650-?1651), Naples, Church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 7 (page 204) Andrea Vaccaro?, Saint Hugh (?) Resuscitating a Baby (about 1652?), Naples, Certosa di San Martino, Chapel of Saint Hugh. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 8 (page 205) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Hugh Reconstructing the Cathedral of Lincoln (about 1652), Naples, Certosa di San Martino, Chapel of Saint Hugh. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. vii Figure 9 (page 206) Andrea Vaccaro, Blessed Gaetano Receiving the Christ Child from Mary (1658), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore (formerly Oratory of the Santissimo Crocefisso). Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 10 (page 207) Andrea Vaccaro, Blessed Andrew Presented with the Mysteries of the Passion of Christ (1658), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore (formerly Oratory of the Santissimo Crocefisso). Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 11 (page 208) Andrea Vaccaro, Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1659), Naples, Church of Santa Maria della Sanità. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 12 (page 209) Andrea Vaccaro, Stigmatization of Saint Catherine of Siena (1659), Naples, Church of Santa Maria della Sanità. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 13 (page 210) Andrea Vaccaro, Holy Trinity with Saints Mary and Joseph or Saint Mary of Providence (1660-about 1661), Naples, Church of Santa Maria della Providenza (known as Santa Maria dei Miracoli). Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 14 (page 211) Andrea Vaccaro, Intercession of the Madonna for Souls in Purgatory (1660), Naples, formerly Church of Santa Maria del Pianto. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 15 (page 212) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano Offered to Mary by his Mother (modello; about 1660?), Madrid, Museo del Prado. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 99. Figure 16 (page 213) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano before Mary, the Christ Child and Joseph (modello; about 1660?), Madrid, Museo del Prado. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 102. Figure 17 (page 214) Andrea Vaccaro, Death of Saint Gaetano in the Company of Saint Michael (modello; about 1660?), Madrid, Museo del Prado. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 109. viii Figure 18 (page 215) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano Refuses Offerings from Count Antonio Caracciolo d’Oppido (modello; about 1660?), Madrid, Museo del Prado. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 104. Figure 19 (page 216) Interior view of the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, Naples. Photo from Archivio Fotografico, Soprintendenza per il polo Museale di Napoli, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples. Figure 20 (page 217) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano before Mary, the Christ Child and Joseph (1660-1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 103. Figure 21 (page 218) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano Attacked During the Sack of Rome (1660-1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 108. Figure 22 (page 219) in comparison to Figure 17 Andrea Vaccaro, Death of Saint Gaetano in the Company of Saint Michael (1660-1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 109. Figure 23 (page 220) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano Composes the Rule of the Theatine Order (1660-1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 107. Figure 24 (page 221) Andrea Vaccaro, Pope Clement VII Approves the Rule of the Theatine Order (1660- 1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 106. Figure 25 (page 222) Andrea Vaccaro, Saint Gaetano Accepts Offerings from Count Antonio Caracciolo d’Oppido for the Church (1660-1661), Naples, Church of San Paolo Maggiore. Photo from De Vito, “Appunti,” 105. Figure