Born in Naples in 1578, it is believed that his initial training was with Francesco Imparato and Fabrizio Santafede, although it is more likely that the presence of Caravaggio in Naples towards the end of 1606 was most influential.

Caracciolo, only five years younger than Caravaggio, was among the first to adopt a startling new style with a sombre palette, dramatic tenebrism and sculptural figures on a shallow visual plane, defined by light rather than by perspective.

Caracciolo was considered the only forefather of the Neapolitan school of Caravaggism. Unlike many of his peers, he went beyond the defining trademarks of Caravaggio's work, aspiring to his own depth of feeling and mastery of dramatic light and shadow.

After 1618, he visited Genoa, Rome and Florence. In Rome, he was influenced by the renewed Classicism of the Carracci cousins and the Emilian school; he began work to synthesize their style through his tenebrism.

Returning to Naples, he translated his Emilian experience into grandiose, wide-ranging fresco scenes.

He died in Naples in 1635.