Paolo De Matteis Biography
Paolo De Matteis (Piano Vetrale, 9 February 1662 – Naples, 26 July 1728) was an Italian painter, active in particular in the Kingdom of Naples between the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. Having moved to Naples as a young man, he dedicated himself to painting, having as his teacher first Francesco Di Maria and then the already famous Luca Giordano, by whom he was strongly influenced. In 1682 he was in Rome with Giovanni Maria Morandi, by whom he was introduced to the environments of the Accademia di San Luca. In Rome he met the Marquis of El Carpio, Gaspar Méndez de Haro y Guzmán, following whom he returned to Naples in 1683, when the Marquis was appointed Viceroy of Naples. He was a wandering painter: from 1703 to 1705, De Matteis worked in Paris under the protection of Louis XIV, then in Calabria and Genoa. In the Ligurian city he created an Immaculate Conception with the apparition of Saint Jerome. Returning to Naples, he painted decorative schemes for Neapolitan churches, including the decorations of the vault of the Chapel of Sant'Ignazio, in the Church of Gesù Nuovo in the square of the same name in Naples. Between 1723 and 1725, De Matteis lived in Rome, where he received a commission from Pope Innocent XIII. He also operated in Austria, Spain, England, and France. His students were Inácio de Oliveira, Francesco Peresi, and members of the Sarnelli family, including Francesco, Gennaro, Giovanni, and Antonio Sarnelli. Other students of his were Giuseppe Mastroleo, Vincenzo Fato, Antonio Fumo, Nicola de Filippis and Domenico Guarino and his daughter Mariangiola De Matteis. De Matteis married for the first time Rosolena Perrone, daughter of the sculptor Michele, and had three daughters, all trained in painting. He died in Naples in 1728 and is buried in the Church of the Concezione al Chiatamone.
