MALVITO, Tommaso - b. ~1450 Como, d. ~1524 Napoli

Italian sculptor, tomb designer and architect, active in France and Italy. Little is known about his life. He was born in Como (Lombardy), and was a pupil of the Milanese Pietro di Martino. From 1476 to 1483 he was in Marseille, where he worked under Francesco Laurana. He was the father and teacher of Giovanni Tommaso Malvito de Sumalvito (active 15th century), sculptor.

Malvito is mentioned for the first time as an autonomous artist in 1484, in his Naples workshop which he held until in 1508, together with his son. In the 1490s he worked to the crypt (Succorpo, commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, whose statue there is generally attributed to Giovanni Tommaso) of the city’s Cathedral and the marble portal of the church of Santissima Annunziata.

Cappella del Succorpo (Cappella Carafa)

In 1497 Malvito was commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa to design the Cappella del Succorpo in the Cathedral of Naples. This chapel was the crypt of the cathedral. The chapel is covered by marble and is divided into three naves by columns. In the centre, the statue representing the praying donor Carafa is attributed to Giovanni Tommaso Malvito.