(b Orta di Atella or Naples, c. 1590; d Conversano, 1645). Italian painter. He signed himself Neapolitanus and probably trained in Naples under the late Mannerist painter Ippolito Borghese (d 1627). Borghese’s influence, though lasting, was not as strong as that of Caravaggio, whose art Finoglia came to admire. His work before 1626 is exemplified by the ten lunettes representing the Founders of Religious Orders in the Sala Capitolare (1620–c. 1626) of the Certosa di S Martino, Naples, which demonstrate his accomplished blending of late Mannerist and Caravaggesque styles. The Circumcision (1626), also in the Sala Capitolare, reveals the strong influence of Battistello Caracciolo, as does Finoglia’s first important work in fresco, the decoration of the chapel of S Martino in the Certosa di S Martino with scenes from the Life of St Martin (c. 1632), which were provided to accompany Caracciolo’s altarpiece of St Martin (1622–6) already in the chapel. Caracciolo’s influence was lasting, observable later in the Baptism of St Celsus (c. 1635; Pozzuoli Cathedral). The precious late Mannerist rendering of details, combined with Caravaggesque effects of light, is seen again in the various versions of the Immaculate Conception (1629–30; Naples, S Lorenzo Maggiore; Airola, Annunziata; Montesarchio, S Francesco; Lille, Mus. B.-A.) and also in the Virgin with SS Margaret, Bernard and Anthony of Padua (1634; Naples, SS Bernardo e Margherita a Fonseca), the Bride of the Sacred Canticles and the Annunciation (both Airola, Annunziata).

• Finoglia, Paolo Domenico
  • Naples, §IV, 3: Certosa di S Martino