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Bernardo De Dominici or Bernardo de Dominici or Bernardo de' Dominici (1683–1759) was an Italian art historian and minor landscape and genre painter, active mainly in his native
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
. He is now best known as the author of the ''Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani'', a three-volume collection of biographies of Neapolitan artists, for which he is sometimes called the
Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ide ...
of Naples.Ferdinando Bologna, "De Dominici, Bernardo," In ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani,'' 33 (1987); https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bernardo-de-dominici/; accessed 22 December 2023.


Life

Bernardo De Dominici was born in Naples on 13 December 1683 to Camilla Tartaglione and the Maltese painter, musician and collector Raimondo de' Dominici (1645-1705). He was the younger brother of the actor, musician, and composer Giampaolo De Dominici (1680-1758), and nephew of Suor Maria de Dominici, a Maltese artist. His father had been a pupil of
Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Ca ...
in Malta and had moved to Naples when he was around 20 years of age. In one of the few autobiographical statements, De Dominici remarked that in 1698, when he was around 14 years old, his father took him to Malta, where Bernardo studied with Preti briefly until the elderly painter's death in January 1699. After Bernardo De Dominici's return to Naples in 1701, he dedicated himself to painting as a pupil of
Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of Avellino. H ...
, who, though primarily a history painter, trained him in landscape painting. He also studied under the German landscape painter Franz Joachim Beich, who was then working in Naples, as well as with the Dutch painter Paul Ganses, a specialist in moonlit seascapes.Ferdinando Bologna, "De Dominici, Bernardo," In ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani,'' 33 (1987); https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bernardo-de-dominici/; accessed 22 December 2023. For many years, De Dominici lived in the household of the duke of Laurenzana (or Laurenzano), Niccolò Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona, and his wife, Aurora Sanseverino (1669-1726), patron, poet, and member of the Roman
Accademia degli Arcadi The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", is an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History Found ...
, a literary and philosophical society, whose branch in Naples she hosted. As he later described it, De Dominici served the duchess "as a painter of landscapes, seascapes, and scenes of everyday life" ('' bambocciate'' or
genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...
), sometimes in collaboration with Domenico Brandi, who specialized in painting animals.Bernardo De Dominici, ''Vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti napoletani'', 3 vols. (Naples: Francesco Ricciardi, 1742-45), 3:563; https://archive.org/details/vitedepittoriscu03dedo/page/562/mode/2up; accessed 6 December 2023.Thomas Willette, "Bernardo De Dominici e le Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani: contributo alla riabilitazione di una fonte," ''Ricerche sul '600 napoletano: Dedicato a Ulisse Prota-Giurleo nel centenario della nascita'' (Milan: Edizioni L & T, 1986); https://www.academia.edu/678548/Bernardo_De_Dominici_e_le_Vite_depittori_scultori_ed_architetti_napoletani_Contributo_alla_riabilitazione_di_una_fonte; accessed 18 December 2023.Thomas Willette, "Dominici, Bernardo de," ''Grove Art Online;'' https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000023230; accessed 6 December 2023. De Dominici claimed that his ''bambocciate'' pleased the public as well as Count Harrach, the important collector and Austrian viceroy of Naples (1728-1733). No paintings by De Dominici have been identified, however, although an inventory of the duke of Laurenzana's collection lists eleven small landscapes by him. In great part because of his association with Sanseverino, De Dominici was in contact with the intellectual and artistic elite of Naples, among them Solimena,
Giambattista Vico Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...
, Francesco Valletta, Matteo Egizio, and Antonio Roviglione, with whom he exchanged sonnets. By 1721, De Dominici was gathering biographical material on Neapolitan artists. He published a biography of
Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...
in 1728 and his ''Lives of the Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' in three volumes from 1742 to 1745. De Dominici was married twice: to Palma Vittoria Nicolini in 1717 and to a Roman widow, Maria Marta Maddalena Quaresima, in 1735.Fiorella Sricchia Santoro, "Introduzione," in Bernardo De Dominici, ''Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani. Indici'', ed. Fiorella Sricchia Santoro and Andrea Zezza (Naples: Paparo Edizioni, 2003), 1-2:xv. More than once, but unsuccessfully, De Dominici petitioned king Charles VII of Naples (later, from 1759, king
Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...
) to appoint him director of the royal gallery of paintings.Andrea Zezza, "Postfazione," in Bernardo De Dominici, ''Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani. Indici'', ed. Fiorella Sricchia Santoro and Andrea Zezza (Naples: Paparo Edizioni, 2014), 3:15. De Dominici died in poverty on 30 April 1759. He was buried in the Neapolitan church of Santa Croce di Palazzo.


''Lives of the Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''

Bernardo De Dominici's first publication, a biography of the most celebrated Neapolitan painter, Luca Giordano (1634-1705), was appended to the second edition of Giovanni Pietro Bellori's ''
Lives of the Artists ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...
'', published in Naples in 1728 by Francesco Ricciardi (or Ricciardo), who republished the Giordano biography as a stand-alone book in 1729. ernardo De Dominici ''Vita del cavaliere d. Luca Giordano, pittore napoletano'' (Naples: Francesco Ricciardo, 1729). https://archive.org/details/vitadelcavalier00domigoog; accessed 1 November 2023. Ricciardi was subsequently responsible for the publication of several important texts on art, including De Dominici's major work, the ''Lives of the Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' (''Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani''). In this three-volume collection of biographies, published in Naples in 1742-1745, De Dominici treated artists from the thirteenth century to his own time. Most of the artists were Neapolitan natives or immigrants who spent most of their careers in Naples, though De Dominici also included famous Neapolitans who made their careers largely or entirely elsewhere (namely,
Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 – March 15, 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the ...
and
Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italians, Italian sculptor and Italian architect, architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prom ...
). He discussed but did not devote full biographies to significant artists who worked in Naples relatively briefly, such as
Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...
,
Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoe ...
,
Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...
,
Giovanni Lanfranco Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian Baroque painter. Biography Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the household of Coun ...
, and
Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...
. The most important immigrant artist in Naples, the Spaniard
Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...
, De Dominici mistakenly thought to have been born in Gallipoli, in the province of Lecce (then part of the Spanish viceroyalty of Naples), albeit the son of a Spanish father. De Dominici's ''Lives'' comprises almost one hundred chapters, ranging in length from a single page to nearly 150 pages, each of which is called either a life (''vita''), notice (''notizia''), or recollection (''memoria''). Its structure follows that of Giorgio Vasari's ''
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...
'', with prefatory material to each volume followed by biographies arranged chronologically. Like other collections of biographies of regional Italian artists published in the nearly two centuries since the appearance of Vasari's ''Lives'', such as
Carlo Cesare Malvasia Carlo Cesare Malvasia (18 December 16169 March 1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled ''Felsina pittrice'', published in 1678. Together with his contemporary Giovanni P ...
's ''Felsina pittrice, vite de’ pittori bolognesi'' (1678), De Dominici's ''Lives'' offered a complement to, and updating and implicit critique of, Vasari's Tuscany-focused book. In his ''Le vite de' pittori, scultori, architetti perugini'' of 1732, Lione Pascali noted that what others had done for Venice, Modena, Genoa, Bologna, and Verona, De Dominici was doing for Naples. In his address to the ''Eletti'' (representatives) of the city of Naples in the first volume of his ''Lives'', De Dominici noted that "Florence, Bologna, Venice, Genoa, and other illustrious cities, . . boasting the merits of their professors f artand raising to the stars the excellent works they had made, wanted their youth to follow in the glorious footsteps of the Raphaels, Correggios, Titians, and Michelangelos."Bernardo De Dominici, ''Vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti napoletani'', 3 vols. (Naples: Francesco Ricciardi, 1742-45), 1:n.p. ("Agli Eccellentiss miSignori Eletti"); https://archive.org/details/vitedepittoriscu03dedo/page/n3/mode/2up; accessed 15 December 2023. Moved by such examples to pity the fate of many praiseworthy Neapolitan painters, architects, and sculptors, De Dominici wrote, he determined to raise them from the darkness of oblivion in which they languished. De Dominici's ''Lives'' did not sell well. A four-volume edition of the ''Lives'' was published in Naples in 1840-1846. An annotated edition was published in 2003. Aside from excerpts, the book has not been translated into any other language from its original Italian. The ''Lives'' came under significant criticism already in the eighteenth century, though it remained an authoritative source through the nineteenth century until some scholars, especially those associated with the new journal, ''Napoli nobilissima'', called for a modern "critical history" of art in Naples, based on documents and philological scrutiny of narratives, inscriptions and other texts, that would obviate De Dominici's text. The critique and dismissal of De Dominici as a source achieved its most pointed expression when the young
Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...
dubbed him "Il Falsario" ("The Forger") in an 1892 essay in the journal. Many of De Dominici's assertions have proven to be inaccurate, and considerable criticism has been levied against his use of putative sources (especially a manuscript from the 16th-century "notary Criscuolo" and notes from the 17th-century painter
Massimo Stanzione Massimo Stanzione (also called Stanzioni; Frattamaggiore 1585 – Naples 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Naples, where he and his rival Jusepe de Ribera dominated the painting scene for several decades. He was primarily a ...
) that were suspected of being invented by the author himself. Nonetheless, efforts have been made since the second half of the twentieth century to recover the ''Lives''' utility for historians of Neapolitan art by recognizing his astute criticism of works of art and understanding the rhetorical mode of the genre of early-modern biographies in which De Dominici wrote.Thomas Willette, "Bernardo De Dominici e le Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani: contributo alla riabilitazione di una fonte," ''Ricerche sul '600 napoletano: Dedicato a Ulisse Prota-Giurleo nel centenario della nascita'' (Milan: Edizioni L & T, 1986); https://www.academia.edu/678548/Bernardo_De_Dominici_e_le_Vite_depittori_scultori_ed_architetti_napoletani_Contributo_alla_riabilitazione_di_una_fonte; accessed 18 December 2023. The growing appreciation for De Dominici's connoisseurship has helped scholars revisit questions such as the use of drawings in early-modern Naples.Francesco Solinas et Sebastian Schütze, eds., ''Le dessin napolitain'' (Roma: De Luca, 2010).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominici, Bernardo De 1683 births 1759 deaths Scholars from the Kingdom of Naples Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Painters from Naples Italian Baroque painters Italian art historians 18th-century Neapolitan people 18th-century Italian male artists