Corrado Giaquinto, born in Molfetta on 18 February 1703 and died in Naples on 18 April 17661, is an Italian Rococo painter from the Neapolitan school. Corrado Giaquinto was born north of Bari, in Molfetta, and was a pupil of Francesco Solimena and Sebastiano Conca . He had a very successful international career, travelled a lot: so in 1753 he was summoned to the Spanish court and became the first painter of the house of King Ferdinand VI of Spain. He worked until 1762 in the royal palaces of Madrid (Escurial and Aranjuez) and also produced a fresco for the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome, in which he struck Moses against the rock. This composition, painted for the anniversary of 1750 and now lost, is nevertheless known to us by a sketch in the National Gallery in London. His portrait of Farinelli's Castrate, preserved at the Bologna Conservatory, is also one of his most important works. He painted the frescoes of the Roman church of St. Nicholas of Lorraine. He had disciples José del Castillo and Antonio González Velázquez.
