Born in Concordia Sagittaria in the province of Venice in 1637, Carneo spent his early years in Portogruaro, before moving to Cordovado, where his presence is documented between 1658 and 1667. 

There is little information on his life and work, including his artistic training, which probably took place with select key figures in Venetian painting, such as Palma il Giovane and Padovanino, Tintoretto and Jacopo da Ponte, known as Bassano.  

In 1667, he moved to Udine to a house owned by Count Leonardo Caiselli, who provided him with protection, room and board in exchange for his paintings.  

Now a mature painter with a refined pictorial language, his work was dominated by chiaroscuro and a fascination for the marked faces of simple people, the general population, whose expressions were captured and emphasised with great skill, in the style of Caravaggio. 

An established painter, Carneo attracted many private, public and ecclesiastical commissions, which allowed him to explore a broad variety of evolving references, pushing the boundaries of experimentation, making him one of the most prominent figures of the Venetian Baroque. 

He spent the last years of his life in Portogruaro, where he died in 1692.