Giuseppe Recco or Giovanni Battista Recco Italian, 1634-1695

Giuseppe Recco (Naples, Italy 1634 - Alicante, Spain 1695)

Born in Naples in 1634 to a family of artists, Recco soon decided to distance himself from his father's style, veering towards the influence of famous fellow countryman Paolo Porpora; known mostly for his still lifes.

His paintings depicted a broad range of subjects, not only flowers, fruit, fish, game and various foods but also compositions which were increasingly monumental and scenic.

Thanks to his extraordinary ability in depicting marine fauna, he painted highly original artworks with remarkable scenic effects. His patrons were high-ranking clientele, Neapolitan aristocratic and bourgeois families, thanks to whom he achieved a high social standing, eventually earning him an invitation to the court of King Charles II.

Many Baroque still lives of the Neapolitan school remain of debated attribution between Giovan Battista and his nephew Giuseppe due to the equivocal nature of the initials and signatures.

During a journey to Spain, Recco was shipwrecked and forced to stop in Alicante, where he died in 1695.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)