Andrea Belvedere

(Naples ca. 1652 – 1732)

A singular artist (he was an abbot and a musician), a highly original florist, he is considered the greatest interpreter of Caravaggio’s legacy. His is a joyful painting, shot through with a subtle vein of melancholy, focusing his investigation on the intimate vitality that springs from the plant world, in a joyful vibration of colour and light. He began painting in the late 1660s in Naples, devoting himself in his youth to the theme of the vase with a few flowers: his first works were the two paintings with carnations and tulips in a glass bottle, preserved here.

The period from 1685 until his departure for Spain is considered the best of his artistic career. He painted Flowers, Fruits and Coots in this period and later the Flowers in the Copper Bowl, in the Correale collection.

In 1700, he returned to Naples with a life annuity and abandoned painting to devote himself to the theatre.