( fl Naples, mid-17th century). Italian painter. He studied first with Giovanni Battista Caracciolo and later with Artemisia Gentileschi, during her stay in Naples c. 1630, but none of his works from that period remain. His known production is closer to the classical art of Massimo Stanzione, as in St Januarius Interceding for the City of Naples (c. 1652; Naples, Santa Trinità dei Pellegrini), a large altarpiece of exceptional quality, whose view of the city is attributed to Didier Barra. In the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Shepherds (Naples, S Maria della Salute) the influence of Paolo Domenico Finoglia and Francesco Guarino is enriched by a response to the naturalism of Jusepe de Ribera. A similar eclecticism is evident in the Virgin and Child with SS Mary of Egypt and Augustine, the Holy Family with SS Anne and Joachim (Naples, S Maria Egiziaca at Pizzofalcone) and the Immaculate Virgin with St George and Saints (Naples, S Giorgio a Pianura). The painting of Venus and Adonis (Aix-en-Provence, Mus. Granet) is presumably a late work, since it elaborates a theme introduced by Ribera in his Apollo and Marsyas (1637; Naples, Mus. N. S Martino) and his Venus and Adonis (1637; Rome, Pal. Barberini). Palumbo’s painting is an accurately drawn composition with a rather dark chromatic range. According to de Dominici, the painter’s career—on which there is scant documentary information—was progressively impeded by a long, legal battle with some of his relatives, which finally forced him to abandon his professional activity.

• Palumbo, Onofrio
  • Bassante, Bartolomeo