Filippo Napoletano

He held the post of court painter to the Medici family and was highly esteemed for his original works with their wealth of dramatic, nocturnal scenes.

After his return to Rome in 1621, he combined easel painting with fresco decorations featuring views of the countryside in the region of Lazio with ancient Roman ruins.

Starting in 1620 he reproduced in etchings part of his collection of animal skeletons owned by Johann Faber, a Bavarian physician-naturalist residing in Rome and a member of the scientific Accademia dei Lincei.

He is described by Giovanni Baglione as possessing a collection, a wunderkammer of bellissime bizzarrie ("beautiful bizarre objects"),[1] including among the objects exotic weaponry; fossilized plants; tiger, lion, and turtle skulls; oriental porcelain and sculpted crockery; a vest made of human skin; a harness for dragging whales on ice; a three-legged flea, Persian uniforms, and antiquities such as Roman coins, bronze lamps, and a few statuettes.

After Napoletano's death at Rome in 1628, bidding for such material was made by collectors such as Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini (future Clement VIII) and Cassiano dal Pozzo.