Pietro Capelli or Pietro Cappelli (born circa 1700, died 1724 or 1727) was an Italian painter of the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

, active in his native city of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He trained under

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...

. He was active in

quadratura Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...

, but also painted capricci and canvases with landscapes. He was a rival of Leonardo Coccorante. His father, Giuseppe Capelli, was a scenic designer at the

Teatro San Bartolomeo Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in Naples, Italy, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the kingdom of Naples, which had just become a vicerealm of Spain. ...

in Naples. His brother, Giuseppe Cappelli (or Capelli) was a painter in Rome of scenographic decoration (theatrical decorations). Grossi states that ''he was so full of imagination, and fast at painting, that he did not even sketch beforehand for his works.''''Era egli tan feroce di fantasia, e tanto veloce nel pingere, che dell'opere sue neppure faceva lo schizzo.'
Le belle arti
Volumes 1-2, By Giovanni Battista Gennaro Grossi, Tipografia del Giornale Enciclopedico, Strada del Salvadore a Sant'Angelo a Nilo #48, Naples (1820); page 198.

References

* * 1720s deaths 18th-century Neapolitan people 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Naples Italian Baroque painters Italian vedutisti Rococo painters Quadratura painters Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain 1700s births 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-18thC-stub