Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo
{{For|the viceroy of Peru|Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Niccolo Caracciolo
| image =
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| birth_name = Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo
| birth_date = 18 September 1941
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1989|12|16|1941|09|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland
| nationality = Irish
| field = painter
| training =
| movement =
| works =
| patrons =
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}}
Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo RHA (September 18, 1941 – December 16, 1989), known as Niccolo or Nick Caracciolo, was an Irish artist known for his portraits and landscapes.{{Cite web|title=National Irish Visual Arts Library: Caracciolo, Niccolo|url=http://www.nival.ie/collections/artists-database/view/artist/name/caracciolo-niccolo/|access-date=2021-10-14|website=www.nival.ie}}
Early life and family
Born in Dublin on 18 September 1941,{{Cite web|title=Calvary Cemetery Bunclody|url=http://www.bunclody.net/Calvary-cemetery-bunclody/Graveyard-by-grave/AreaC.htm|access-date=2021-10-14|website=www.bunclody.net}} he was the only son of Ferdinando Caracciolo, Prince of Cursi, a member of an old Italian family, originally from Naples.{{Cite web|title=Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciola: Irish Landscape Artist, Portraitist|url=http://64.130.23.120/irish-artists/niccolo-darcadia-caracciolo.htm|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Visual Arts Cork}}{{Cite news|date=1999-05-22|title=Dublin through the eyes of an idealistic artist|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/dublin-through-the-eyes-of-an-idealistic-artist-1.187794|access-date=2021-10-14|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}} His mother was Mary Purcell-Fitzgerald{{Cite news|last=MacG.|first=C.|date=1990-01-01|title=Nick Caracciolo, RHA (Don Niccolo D' Ardia Caracciolo)|newspaper=The Irish Times|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1990/0101/Pg013.html|access-date=2021-10-14}} of The Island, near Waterford, now Waterford Castle, where he was reared.{{Cite web|title=D'ARDIA|url=http://www.famiglienobilinapolitane.it/Genealogie/d%27Ardia.htm|access-date=2021-10-14|website=www.famiglienobilinapolitane.it}} The artist Maria Levinge is his sister, who he tutored in art.{{Cite web|title=Maria Levinge|url=https://thekilkennyartgallery.com/collections/maria-levinge|access-date=2021-10-14|website=The Kilkenny Art Gallery|language=en}} He had another sister, Francesca.
After being educated at The Oratory School in Woodcote, England, he went to Florence at the age of 19 to study art at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze at the suggestion of Pietro Annigoni, studying under Signorina Nera Simi. He continued to keep a house in Tuscany for the rest of his life, travelling back and forth to Ireland.
Career
In 1964 Caracciolo was one of the painters chosen to paint a replica of the Sistine Chapel for the scenery of the 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy, on the life of Michelangelo.{{Cite news|last=McNally|first=Frank|date=2012-02-01|title=An Irishman's Diary|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.455444|access-date=2021-10-14|newspaper=The Irish Times}} Becoming a noted portrait painter, among those who sat for him were Lord Iveagh, J. P. Donleavy, Anthony Bygraves, and Sir Marc Cochrane.
From 1975 to 1978 he lived at Rosemount House, near Moate, County Westmeath, where he painted many scenes of the surrounding countryside{{Cite web|title=Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo 1941 - 1989, Irish Artist.|url=https://www.adams.ie/irish-artist-directory/niccolo-d-ardia-caracciolo-art-sold-at-auction|access-date=2021-10-14|website=adams.ie|language=en-gb}} and exhibited at the Lad Lane Gallery in Dublin in 1978. He also exhibited at the Holly Solomon Gallery in New York.
In 1983 he became an associate Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and in 1984 a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Death and legacy
Caracciolo died near Siena, Italy in a road accident on 16 December 1989. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery Bunclody, County Wexford. The Don Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo RHA Medal and Award is awarded in his memory.{{Cite web|title=Royal Hibernian Academy of Art (RHA), Ireland|url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/irish-art-organizations/royal-hibernian-academy.htm|access-date=2021-10-14|website=www.visual-arts-cork.com}}
External links
- [http://www.artnet.com/artist/716161/niccolo-dardia-caracciolo.html Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo on artnet.com]
- [http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=11092618 Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo on askart.com]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713113022/http://www.johnadamsfineart.com/view-artwork.asp?id=461&categoryid=6&periodid=7&artistid= Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo on johnadamsfineart.com]
References
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Category:People educated at The Oratory School
Category:20th-century Irish painters
Category:Artists from Dublin (city)
Category:Irish people of Italian descent