Antonio De Bellis. Le (molto incerte) vicende biografiche e qualche considerazione

The Neapolitan 17th century was characterized by such great cultural and artistic ferment that it was labelled as the Golden Age. A myriad of architects, sculptors, painters and craftsmen created works of great value that changed the face of the Viceroyalty capital forever. Among the most appreciated painters at the time, as shown by the many works that are now part of his catalogue, but for a long time fallen into oblivion, also for the almost total absence of documents, there is certainly Antonio De Bellis: an artist who has aroused the interest of scholars since the 1970s, also becoming part of the group of painters involved in the vexata quaestio on the identity of the Maestro degli Annunci ai pastori. Often mistaken for Bernardo Cavallino, as proof of his works’ quality his artistic path has its roots in Caravaggesque naturalism as interpreted by Battistello, Filippo Vitale and Jusepe de Ribera. Following in this latter’s footsteps, like so many others, he participates in the coloristic revolution coming on the one hand, from Rome, with the rediscovery of the 16th century Venetian Masters by a group of French artists, first of all Poussin, and, on the other hand, from Van Dyck’s works, full of Mediterranean light. Antonio De Bellis’ attempt to maintain the link with his formative painting style while adhering to these new instances, however, does not last long and so his final two canvases lack the mordant of his previous production.