Luca Giordano (1634–1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching, born in Naples. He was a prolific artist of the Neapolitan Baroque, producing altarpieces, mythological paintings, and extensive decorative fresco cycles for palaces and churches. Giordano worked across Italy in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, and spent a decade in Spain.
Giordano developed a style that departed from the dark manner of early 17th-century Neapolitan art, exemplified by Caravaggio and Jusepe de Ribera. Drawing inspiration from 16th-century Venetians and Pietro da Cortona, he incorporated a new emphasis on light, glowing color, dynamic movement, and dramatic action into his compositions. His rapid working method earned him the nickname "Luca Fa-Presto."
