Solimena was a painter and architect who had begun his studies in the humanities, but his career was subsequently shaped by the profession of his father, the painter Angelo Solimena. He started working as his father’s assistant; however, the most important influence on his early training were the paintings of Luca Giordano (with whom he was friends), Pietro da Cortona, Lanfranco, and Mattia Preti,
Belvedere was the last and most appreciated representative of the Neapolitan still-life tradition, which appeared almost to die out after he passed away in 1732. He began to work in his city of birth in 1674. His style seems to have been shaped by the circle of Paolo Porpora and inspired by the early works of Giuseppe Recco, to judge by the earliest surviving paintings from this period (Naples, Mu