Fabrizio Santafede

Who was Fabrizio Santafede?

Fabrizio Santafede was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque periods. He painted in a late-Mannerist style. He was a pupil of his father, the painter Francesco Santafede, and later a pupil of Francesco Curia and Andrea Sabbatini. Although he was born and died in Naples, he traveled extensively, including Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Venice in his study of the great masters. He became a merchant of antiquities and paintings himself. He painted extensively in Naples, including an Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin for Santa Donna Regina Nuova. He also created Madonna with Saints. The Baroque painter Massimo Stanzione is mentioned as one of his pupils.

Legend has it that during the sack of Naples in 1647 by insurgents under Masaniello two halls that he had painted were spared due to respect for Santafede.