BABOCCIO DA PIPERNO, Antonio

Italian abbot, painter, sculptor and goldsmith, originating from Piperno (from 1927 Priverno) in Lazio. His artistic training brings him into contact with different cultures which influence his style: in Milan he works in an environment characterized by the Franco-Flemish and Rhenish cultures, in Bologna he meets the Emilian expressionism. He also works in Venice, Naples, Messina and other centres of the south of the Italian peninsula.

In 1407 he was working at the construction site of the Cathedral of Milan when Cardinal Enrico Minutolo calls him to work in Naples, then he ruled by the Anjou. Although Baboccio was already an established artist, it is in the capital of Campania where he executed the works for which he is most remembered.

One of his most famous works, although the criticism attribution is not completely unanimous, is the tomb of Agnese and Clemenza di Durazzo in the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples. This monument, containing the remains of the daughters of Charles of Anjou, duke of Durazzo, was commissioned by the Queen Margherita of Durazzo when she retired from exile. Baboccio executed also the tomb of the queen in 1421 in the Cathedral of Salerno.

The Penna tomb in the church of Santa Chiara in Naples was commissioned from Baboccio in 1414, and in the next year he made the portal of the Pappacoda Chapel, founded by the head of the family, Artusio Pappacoda. His last work, dated 1421, is the tomb of Ludovico Aldomorisco in the Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples.