GRIMALDI, Francesco. — Architect and Theatine monk, born in 1545 at Oppido di Lucania and probably died around 1630. Active especially in Naples, he nevertheless completed his artistic education in Rome, and his works clearly show the influence of the Roman school.
His first work in Naples was perhaps the church of S. Andrea delle Dame (1585–90), followed by the church of S. Paolo Maggiore (1590–1603), built on the ruins of the Temple of the Dioscuri and one of the first Neapolitan churches of the Baroque period. He later worked on the construction of the church of the Sapienza (begun in 1614 and completed by Fanzago), of S. Maria degli Angeli, and of the SS. Apostoli (begun in 1626, derived from the church of the Gesù in Rome). But always celebrated, even for the competition in which he defeated famous architects, is his chapel of the Treasure of S. Gennaro, begun in 1608 and designed as an independent church, which later inspired Fanzago in some of his churches. Begun in 1620 and, according to ancient accounts, similar to the Chapel of the Treasure, was also the Trinità delle Monache, completed by Fanzago and now demolished. He has also been attributed the demolished church of the Gesù in Monteleone in Calabria, and at one time S. Andrea della Valle in Rome. His work reveals an energetic plastic sense of architectural forms, outside the currents of the Neapolitan Seicento. G. has been reevaluated by recent criticism, which has defined him as an artist superior even to the better-known Fanzago (Pane).