De Dominici records that the artist was a pupil of Giovan Battista Ruoppolo, and although only a little firm information about his life can be documented, his tendency to sign his paintings (such as in the present case, in an abbreviated form), has given him a secure body of work that demonstrates a variety of influences and interests.  He appears to have been well regarded enough to have been included in a list of still life painters drawn up by the Marques del Carpio, the viceroy and collector, who were asked to produce canvases for the "Festa dei Quattro Altari," a yearly celebration held outside of Naples.  These included his master Ruoppolo, Giuseppe Recco, Luca Giordano and Abraham Brueghel (for a discussion of this commission, please see F. Bologna, Paesaggi e nature morte dall'Italia e dall'Europa de nord tra XVI e XVIII secolo, 1986, p. 110).