Early life and education Bonito was born at
Castellammare di Stabia, and, like Traversi, was a student at the large studio of
Francesco Solimena. One of his contemporaries there was
Gaspare Traversi. Bonito represented urban scenes with folklore details and figures of
commedia dell'arte.
Court painter Between the 1736 and 1742 Bonito worked for the
House of Borbon in the royal
Palace of Portici.
The Turkish Ambassador in Naples in 1741 (1742; Madrid,
Museo del Prado), probably his first royal portrait commission, exhibits the intense
realism, carefully modelled light and naturalistic detail that thereafter distinguished his portraiture from that of his court predecessors, notably
Pompeo Batoni. Portraits from this period include the series of nine paintings representing the Children of
Charles III (1748; Madrid, Museo del Prado). He also painted portraits of the wife of Charles III,
Maria Amalia of Saxony, wife of the
Charles VII. Throughout the 1750s Bonito was also active as a designer and adviser on artistic matters to the Bourbon court. He was appointed pittore di camera in 1751, elected to the
Accademia di San Luca, Rome, in 1752 and from 1755 onwards was director of the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli. He executed a variety of royal commissions, including designs for commemorative medals and
tapestries; among the latter are episodes from the
Story of Don Quixote (designed 1758; tapestries,
Royal Palace of Naples). He also continued to produce portraits, including the
Portrait of a Neapolitan Gentlewoman (c. 1754–5; Bergamo, priv. col.) and the beguiling double portrait of Prince Ferdinand and Prince Gabriel (c. 1759; Naples,
National Museum of San Martino). His most acclaimed painting of the 1750s was the di sotto in sù vault fresco of the
Dedication of Solomon’s Temple (1752–8; Naples, Santa Chiara), which exhibited the rich colours and deeply shaded contours characteristic of his style throughout the middle part of the century.
Later work In the late 1750s Bonito’s religious paintings became more
Rococo in style and spirit. The
Crucifixion and the
Holy Family (both c. 1757; Naples, Santi Giovanni e Teresa) incorporated paler tones and more diffused contours than he had used previously. A further, late transition in Bonito’s style is evident in the badly damaged
Immaculate Conception of the 1780s (
Royal Palace of Caserta), which has the languid rhythms, pale luminosity and rich surface textures typical of the 18th-century Rococo style elsewhere in Europe. A late Self-portrait (1785–9) is also preserved (Florence,
Uffizi). Bonito died in
Naples on 9 May 1789. One of his pupils was
Angelo Mozzillo. Bonito is also thought to have executed a great number of genre pictures, but this aspect of his career remains uncertain and controversial. ==Gallery==