Perhaps no artist ever enjoyed a greater share of contemporary fame than
Luca Giordano. Possessed of inexhaustible invention, and marvellous
facility of hand, which enabled him to multiply his works to any
required amount he had the good fortune to hit upon a style which
pleased, though it still farther corrupted the declining taste of the
age. He despatched a large picture in the presence of Cosmo III., Grand
Duke of Florence, in so short a space of time as caused him to exclaim
in wonder, "You are fit to be the painter of a sovereign prince." The
same eulogium, under similar circumstances, was passed upon him by
Charles II. A similar feat at Naples, had previously won the admiration
and approbation of the Viceroy, the Marquess de Heliche, and laid the
foundation of his fortune. It became _the fashion_, to admire everything
that came from his prolific pencil, at Madrid, as well as at Naples.
Everywhere, his works, good or bad, were received with applause. When it
was related as a wonder that Giordano painted with his fingers, no
Angelo was found to observe, "Why does not the blockhead use his brush."
That Giordano was a man of genius, there can be no doubt, but had he
executed only a tenth part of the multitude he did, his fame would have
been handed down to posterity with much greater lustre. Cean Bermudez
says of his works in Spain, "He left nothing that is absolutely bad, and
nothing that is perfectly good." His compositions generally bear the
marks of furious haste, and they are disfigured in many cases by
incongruous associations of pagan mythology with sacred history, and of
allegory with history, a blemish on the literature as well as the art of
the age. Bermudez also accuses him of having corrupted and degraded
Spanish art, by introducing a new and false style, which his great
reputation and royal favoritism, brought into vogue. Still, he deserves
praise for the great facility of his invention, the force and richness
of his coloring, and a certain grandeur of conception and freedom of
execution which belong only to a great master. The royal gallery at
Madrid possesses no less than fifty-five of his pictures, selected from
the multitude he left in the various royal palaces. There are also many
in the churches. Lanzi says, "Naples abounds with the works of Giordano,
both public and private. There is scarcely a church in this great city
which does not boast some of his works."