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Imparato, Gerolamo
( fl Naples, 1571–1607). Italian painter. Documents attest to his career in Naples, but where he came from is a subject of controversy. It is probable that he studied with Silvestro Buono ( fl 1551–98), with whom he apparently collaborated on a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin (Naples, S Pietro in Vinculis) in 1571. His work of the 1590s suggests familiarity with the art of Rome, Venice and Parma, which he might have visited between 1573 and 1587. He may, however, have absorbed this knowledge through his collaboration with Dirck Hendricksz., a Flemish artist thoroughly acquainted with the art of Rome, Venice and Parma, with whom he decorated the ceiling of the church of Donnaromita in Naples. The Baptism (1590; Massa Lubrense, nr Naples, parish church), the Annunciation (1591; Castiglione Cosentino, nr Cosenza, parish church) and Christ among the Doctors (1591–2; S Maria de la Vid, nr Burgos, parish church) all demonstrate a knowledge of such Roman painters of the 1580s as Giovanni Muziano, Cesare Nebbia, Niccolò Circignani and Andrea Lilio. Later works, despite the brief influence of the Neapolitan Mannerist painter Francesco Curia (1538–1610) revealed in the Madonna del Carmine (1598; Naples, Spirito Santo), became increasingly Baroque, and Imparato developed his interest in Flemish painters such as Hendricksz. and Paul Bril. However, the Nativity (1602–3; Naples, Gesù Nuovo), the ceiling and the small altars (1603–7) of S Maria la Nova, Naples, and the Immaculate Conception (1606; Vibo Valentia, church of the Clarisse) move away from the ornate and decorative manner of Curia and Hendricksz., towards a more intimate, emotional style with iridescent colour and broken contours. In his last work, the Martyrdom of St Peter of Verona (1607; Naples, S Pietro Martire), Imparato sought softer effects of light and air, probably influenced by Luigi Rodriguez ( fl 1594–1606), but also in line with Spanish devotional painting, which was well known in Naples. He sent works to Puglia and Calabria; his regular collaborator, at least from 1577, was Giovann’Angelo d’Amato ( fl 1570s–1610s).
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