Andrea di Leone was born in Naples on 8 September 1610. He was a pupil of
Belisario Corenzio and
Salvator Rosa. Still very young, he collaborated with Corenzio on frescoes of battle scenes for the palace of the Viceroy. When Corenzio left Naples, Leone became his successor in his work for the palace. Attracted by the painting style of
Aniello Falcone, he entered latter's studio, where he received a rigorous academic training. In the late 1630s he contributed, together with several other Neapolitan painters, to the decoration of the
Buen Retiro Palace in Spain. Leone’s art was deeply influenced by that of
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, whom he may have met during Castiglione’s visit to Naples in 1635, and whom he probably met again in Rome in the 1640s; the relationship between their art was both complex and long lasting. The
Voyage of Jacob by Castiglione (1633; New York, priv. col.) inspired a group of works by Leone, particularly his signed
Voyage of Jacob (1635–40; Vienna,
Kunsthistorisches Museum), an elegant and romantic rendering of an
Old Testament scene, enriched by animals, still-life and genre details, and set in a warmly coloured and softly atmospheric landscape. This and other works suggest so strong a debt to both Castiglione and the
Venetianizing elements in
Nicolas Poussin’s early work, to which Castiglione himself responded, that it has been suggested that Leone travelled to Rome and became one of the circle of artists who gathered around Poussin and
Pietro Testa. The date of the visit is unclear, but it may have been in the mid-1630s, or between 1642 and 1644. In 1647 Lione produced a signed and dated portrait of the rebel leader
Masaniello (Rome, Nicolo Castellino priv. col.) and after Masaniello’s revolt he left Naples for a period (de Dominici) and may have visited Rome. Other works, while still indebted to Castiglione, show the influence of Poussin’s more classical style and reveal an awareness of other French artists working in Rome, such as
Sébastien Bourdon and
Charles Mellin. Outstanding among these is
Tobit Burying the Dead (early 1640s; New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art), related to which are a group of drawings (e.g. London,
Courtauld Institute Galleries; Cleveland,
Cleveland Museum of Art) and a print by Castiglione, and four drawings by Leone (Berlin,
Kupferstichkabinett; London,
Victoria and Albert Museum; Naples,
Museo di Capodimonte; Sacramento,
Crocker Art Museum), which suggest a complex relationship between the two artists. Yet the final picture, in which the figures are arranged in a frieze-like group before an architectural landscape, is more austere than Castiglione and closer to the ordered compositions of Poussin. Leone’s later works probably include
Venus and Adonis (mid-1650s; New York, Mario Lan priv. col.), a romantic and very freely painted work, which echoes the poetry of Poussin’s most lyrical mythological scenes, and
Jacob’s Journey (1666; Madrid,
Museo del Prado), again dependent on Castiglione. Five frescoes of scenes from the Life of St. Athanasius, signed and dated 1677 (
Naples Cathedral, Cappella Galeota), survive in a ruinous condition. Leone was also a
still-life painter, and his works in this genre include a signed
Still-life (Geneva, priv. col.) and two
Still-lifes with Fruit (
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau). Leone died in Naples on 12 February 1685. ==Gallery==