Matteo Perez d'Aleccio

Who was Matteo Perez d'Aleccio?

Matteo Perez d'Aleccio was an Italian painter of devotional, historical and maritime subjects during the Mannerist period. He was also known as Matteo da Lecce or Leccio by virtue of his hometown of Lecce.

He studied under Michelangelo, working on the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican, painting the Fall of the Angels in the facade facing Michelangelo's Last Judgment. He was a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He also painted an altarpiece for Sant'Eligio degli Orefici.

He travelled to Naples where he met the artist Pablo Moron, who became his long standing assistant. Perez's most important works can be found in Rome. They include the fresco The Dispute over the Body of Moses in the Sistine Chapel; frescoes in the Villa d'Este in Tivoli and the Villa Mondragone in Frascati. He also worked in Malta, Seville and Lima, where he died.

The Hall of St Michael and St George, also known as the Throne Room, of the Grandmaster's Palace, Valletta, is decorated with 13 of his frescoes showing the events of the great siege of Malta by the Turks in 1565. He is credited with having introduced mannerism to Malta with his frescoes.