NAPOLETANO, Filippo
(b. ca. 1589 Napoli, d. 1629, Roma)

Naval Battle

c. 1620
Oil on river stone from the Arno, 23 x 39 cm
Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

The taste for oil paintings on stone slabs which were chosen as a substitute for the traditional supports of wood or canvas was already known in the sixteenth century, but reached its maximum popularity in the course of the first half of the seventeenth century. This Naval Battle, celebrating in 1617 of the Grand Duke against the Turks, was painted by a follower of Filippo Napoletano.