"Say, isn't he the same guy who did…?" In Naples, the answer to that question is usually "yes." There is always some "same guy who did…". Or built. Or painted. Or sculpted. There was a small, busy cadre of illustrious painters, sculptors and architects in the Naples of the 1600s and 1700s who created much of what made the city into an artistic treasure in those years. The sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino comes to mind; his magnificent Veiled Christ is more famous than his other works scattered throughout the city, but it by no means puts the others to shame. Not by a long shot. Cosimo Fanzago? If you see a Baroque-y church and you're not sure, guess Fanzago. Statistically, it's better than even money, and even if you're wrong, it will impress your friends. (Your enemies, however, may counter with, "But what about that doubled gerbilled hyper-atrium." Be prepared.)

D.A.Vaccaro is another one of the creators of 18th-century Naples. As a painter, he trained under Francesco Solimena. Some of Vaccaro's paintings survive, such as the Penitent St William of Aquitaine in the church of Sant'Agostino degli Scalzi. It is, however, his sculpture and architecture that left an indelible stamp on the city.

Having said that, unfortunately one of his early pieces of sculpture didn't turn out to be indelible at all. The high "plague column" in the middle of Piazza del Gesù, perhaps the most ornamental work in the city, was originally topped by his (and his father Lorenzo's—a prominent artist in his own right) bronze equestrian monument to Philip V of Spain. When the Spanish were forced out of Naples in 1700, the monument was destroyed. (It was wisely replaced with a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, quite immune from fickle mobs of statue-topplers.) Much of Vaccaro's sculpture is on the premises of the San Martino monastery(now a museum), such as the figures of Providence and Divine Grace for the Cappella di S Giovanni Battista on the premises, as well as half-length busts of St Januarius and St Martin for the main courtyard. He worked extensively, as well, to decorate the crypt of the church of San Paolo Maggiore.

Vaccaro's most visible work in the historic center is another tall column, this one in the square of San Domenico Maggiore. The spire was started after the plague of 1656; the design was by Cosimo Fanzago. The work, itself, was undertaken by royal architect, Francesco Antonio Picchiati whose concern for documenting and preserving the great number of remains of the ancient Roman city of Neapolis beneath the site caused construction to be suspended in 1680 when the spire had reached only about half the height one sees today. Vaccaro undertook the project many years later and completed it in 1737. The finished carved obelisk and bronze statute of St. Dominic on the top are his. Vaccaro also did innumerable models for silversmiths and ornate figures for Christmas manger displays.

Vaccaro's architecture is what may stand out to casual visitors to the city. Anyone who visits the courtyard of the Santa Chiara complex will note the majolica decoration. As well, a stroll along the otherwise dismal port section of Naples will bring you to the delightful old customs station, the Immacolatella , the only part of 18th-century still standing in that immediate area. That, too, is Vaccaro's.

He was also connected with a plan to build what turned out to be the most spectacular building never built! It was to be the Palazzo Tarsia, now in the heart of the crowded Montesanto section of Naples and overlaid by two centuries of rebuilding, destruction and urban subdividing. The elaborate terraces, ramps and gardens—to the extent that they were ever completed—are gone. Vaccaro's own engraving still exists (illustration, below).

graphics: top: the Immacolatella ; in gallery, left to right: Santa Chiara courtyard; detail of the obelisk at Piazza San Domenico Maggiore; Palazzo Tarsia.