Giordano Luca

Giordano, Luca (d. 1705). an Italian painter of very great facility but little imagination, and one of the most prolific artists that ever lived. His nickname of Fa Presto ("Make haste!") is said to have arisen from a frequent exclamation used by his father in the days of his son's popularity. The latter was born at Naples, industriously copied the great masters at Rome and Venice, and assisted Pietro da Cortona, whom he imitated. Madrid, Dresden, and Naples possess the greatest number of his works. He painted in fresco the ceiling of San Lorenzo and the Escurial; and at his native place are to be seen Christ Driving the Dealers from the Temple (in S. Filippo Neri) and St. Francis Xavier Baptising the Indians (in the museum). Cupid and Psyche, a series of twelve pictures, is at Hampton Court.