Francesco Antonio Picchiati
Encyclopedia
Francesco Antonio Picchiati (1619–1694) was an Italian architect from Naples
. He was son of architect Bartolommeo Picchiati and is known primarily for three projects in Naples:
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. He was son of architect Bartolommeo Picchiati and is known primarily for three projects in Naples:
- The chapel for the building at Monte della Misericordia, which contains CaravaggioCaravaggioMichelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
's The Seven Works of MercyThe Seven Works of Mercy (Caravaggio)The Seven Works of Mercy , also known as The Seven Acts of Mercy, is an oil painting by Italian painter Caravaggio, circa 1607. It is housed in the church of Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples...
; - The Spire of San DomenicoSpires of NaplesThe Spires of Naples are three monument columns in the historic center of the city of Naples, Italy. The term "plague column" is commonly used in English for such structures since in many places in Europe such columns were built to celebrate the end of — or deliverance from — the plague...
to a design by Cosimo FanzagoCosimo FanzagoCosimo Fanzago was an Italian architect and sculptor, generally considered the greatest such artist of the Baroque period in Naples, Italy.-Biography:...
. Picchiati was so intent on preserving and cataloging remnants of the original Greco-Roman city beneath the construction site that the work on the spire itself was eventually suspended and wasn't resumed until many years later. - The convent of Santa Croce di Luca, begun in 1643. The convent stood at the extreme western end of the old historic city. It was demolished in 1900 to make room for the new Polyclinic hospital; a small section was left standing as an historical marker.