1.
Guercino
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Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, best known as Guercino, or Il Guercino, was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from the region of Emilia, and active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous naturalism of his manner is in contrast to the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style and he was born in Cento, a village between Bologna and Ferrara. At an early age he acquired the nickname Guercino because he was cross-eyed, mainly self-taught, at the age of 16, he worked as apprentice in the shop of Benedetto Gennari, a painter of the Bolognese School. By 1615, he moved to Bologna, where his work was praised by Ludovico Carracci, Guercino painted two large canvases, Elijah Fed by Ravens and Samson Seized by Philistines, for Cardinal Serra, a Papal Legate to Ferrara. These paintings have a stark naturalist Caravaggesque style, although it is unlikely that Guercino saw any of the Roman Caravaggios first-hand, the Arcadian Shepherds was painted in 1618 at the same time of The Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo in Palazzo Pitti. Its dramatic composition is typical of Guercinos early works, which are often tumultuous and he often claimed that his early style was influenced by a canvas of Ludovico Carracci that he saw in the Capuchin church in Cento. Some of his works are closer to the style of his contemporary Guido Reni. He was recommended by Marchese Enzo Bentivoglio to the Bolognese Ludovisi Pope, Pope Gregory XV, the years he spent in Rome, 1621–23, were very productive. Petronilla Altarpiece for the Vatican, which is considered his masterpiece, after the death of Gregory XV, Guercino returned to his hometown. In 1626, he began his frescoes in the Duomo of Piacenza, between 1618 and 1631, Giovanni Battista Pasqualini produced 67 engravings that document the early production of Guercino, which is not included in the Libro dei Conti. In 1642, following the death of Guido Reni, Guercino moved his workshop to Bologna. In 1655, the Franciscan Order of Reggio paid him 300 ducats for the altarpiece of Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of the Madonna, the Corsini also paid him 300 ducats for the Flagellation of Christ painted in 1657. Guercino was remarkable for the rapidity of his executions, he completed no fewer than 106 large altarpieces for churches. He was also a prolific draftsman and his production includes many drawings, usually in ink, washed ink, or red chalk. Most of them were made as preparatory studies for his paintings, but he also drew landscapes, genre subjects, Guercinos drawings are known for their fluent style in which rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe the forms. Guercino continued to paint and teach until his death in 1666, as he never married, his estate passed to his nephews and pupils, Benedetto Gennari II and Cesare Gennari. Benedetto Zallone of Cento, and Matteo Loves, masterpieces of Cento, Rome and Polish collections, displayed at the National Museum in Warsaw from September 2013 to February 2014
2.
Federico Zuccari
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Federico Zuccari, also known as Federico Zuccaro, was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad. Zuccari was born at SantAngelo in Vado, near Urbino and his documented career as a painter began in 1550, when he moved to Rome to work under Taddeo, his elder brother. He went on to complete decorations for Pius IV, and help complete the decorations at the Villa Farnese at Caprarola. Zuccari was recalled to Rome by Pope Gregory XIII to continue in the Pauline chapel of the Vatican and he visited Brussels, and there made a series of cartoons for the tapestry-weavers. In 1574 he came to England, where he received a commission from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester to portray himself and he also painted Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Francis Walsingham, Lord High Admiral Howard. He painted a portrait of a Man with Two Dogs, in the Pitti Palace, in 1585, he accepted an offer by Philip II of Spain to decorate the new Escorial at a yearly salary of 2,000 crowns. He worked at the palace from January 1586 to end of 1588 and his paintings were disliked by Philip II and many were painted over. However the parting was amicable, We must not blame him and he was succeeded by Pellegrino Tibaldi. He there founded in 1595, under a charter confirmed by Pope Sixtus V, bartolomeo Carducci is said to have studied with him. Like his Giorgio Vasari a generation before, Zuccari aimed at being an art critic and his chief book, Lidea de Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti, was far less popular. Zuccari was raised to the rank of cavaliere not long before his death, freedberg, Sydney J. Pelican History of Art, ed. The Zuccaro Scholarship Getty Museum Exhibition Taddeo and Federico Zuccari, Artist Brothers in Rome
3.
Girolamo Muziano
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Girolamo Muziano, was one of the most prominent Italian painters, active in the mid-to-late sixteenth century. He was born in Acquafredda, near Brescia, but active mainly in Rome, the accounts from the 16th to 20th centuries regarding Muzianos life said he began work under the tutelage of Romanino, an imitator of Titian. He then spent time in Venice until 1549, but moved permanently to Rome about 1550 and he was known there as Il giovane dei paesi, but although he continued to draw and paint landscapes throughout his career, he aspired instead to grand manner figure painting. He painted historical painting in a style based largely on Michelangelo, giving prominence to the monumental anatomy of his figures. His Resurrection of Lazarus was painted for the Colonna palace in Subiaco and it established his fame, Michelangelo himself pronounced its author one of the first artists of that age. The painting was placed in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore above the artists tomb, it was afterwards transferred to the Quirinal Palace. The painting returns to an organization and narrative composition more typical of the High Renaissance than of Muzianos Mannerist contemporaries. Muziano came to be the leading artist in Rome during the 1570-80s and he worked for Cardinal Ippolito II dEste from 1560–66, and his frescoes for the Cardinals villas in Tivoli could be seen in Villa dEste. This last painting was one of two altarpieces that Muziano painted for St. Peters Basilica during the time when Muziano served as superintendent of works for Pope Gregory XIII. Muziano also designed mosaics for the Gregorian Chapel in the basilica and his works can also be seen Santa Caterina dei Funari, the Galleria Colonna, in Orvieto, and in the church of San Francesco in Frascati. He died in 1592, and was buried in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, among his pupils was Paolo Rossetti of Cento. Cristo riceve gli ambasciatori del Battista - Museo antico Tesoro- Loreto Landscape with waterfall Three paintings Attribution Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Muziano, freedberg, Sydney J. Pelican History of Art, ed. Italy cyberguide entry Brief bio of Muziano from the Web Gallery of Art This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Muziano
4.
Luke the Evangelist
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Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical Gospels. The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times, and the Pauline epistle to the Colossians refers to him as a doctor, Christians since the faiths early years have regarded him as a saint. He is believed to have been a martyr, reportedly as having been hanged in an olive tree, though some believe otherwise. Many scholars believe that Luke was a Greek physician who lived in the Greek city of Antioch in Ancient Syria, though other scholars. Bart Koet for instance considered it as widely accepted that the theology of Luke–Acts points to a gentile Christian writing for a gentile audience, gregory Sterling though, claims that he was either a Hellenistic Jew or a god-fearer. His earliest notice is in Pauls Epistle to Philemon—Philemon 1,24 and he is also mentioned in Colossians 4,14 and 2Timothy 4,11, two works commonly ascribed to Paul. He had become a disciple of the apostle Paul and later followed Paul until his martyrdom, having served the Lord continuously, unmarried and without children, filled with the Holy Spirit he died at the age of 84 years. If one accepts that Luke was in fact the author of the Gospel bearing his name and also the Acts of the Apostles, the we section of Acts continues until the group leaves Philippi, when his writing goes back to the third person. This change happens again when the returns to Philippi. There are three we sections in Acts, all following this rule, Luke never stated, however, that he lived in Troas, and this is the only evidence that he did. The composition of the writings, as well as the range of vocabulary used, a quote in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians differentiates between Luke and other colleagues of the circumcision. 10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark,11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God,14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. This comment has traditionally caused commentators to conclude that Luke was a Gentile, if this were true, it would make Luke the only writer of the New Testament who can clearly be identified as not being Jewish. However, that is not the only possibility, although Luke is considered likely to be a Gentile Christian, some scholars believe him to be a Hellenized Jew. The phrase could just as easily be used to differentiate between those Christians who strictly observed the rituals of Judaism and those who did not. Lukes presence in Rome with the Apostle Paul near the end of Pauls life was attested by 2 Timothy 4,11, Only Luke is with me. In the last chapter of the Book of Acts, widely attributed to Luke, we find several accounts in the first person also affirming Lukes presence in Rome including Acts 28,16, And when we came to Rome
5.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
6.
Painters' guild
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The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the saint of artists. One of the most famous such organizations was founded in Antwerp and it continued to function until 1795, although by then it had lost its monopoly and therefore most of its power. In most cities, including Antwerp, the government had given the Guild the power to regulate defined types of trade within the city. Guild membership, as a master, was required for an artist to take on apprentices or to sell paintings to the public. Similar rules existed in Delft, where members could sell paintings in the city or have a shop. The guild of Saint Luke not only represented painters, sculptors, and other artists, but also—especially in the seventeenth century—dealers, amateurs. In traditional guild structures, house-painters and decorators were often in the same guild, however, as artists formed under their own specific guild of St. Luke, particularly in the Netherlands, distinctions were increasingly made. In general, guilds also made judgments on disputes between artists and other artists or their clients, in such ways, it controlled the economic career of an artist working in a specific city, while in different cities they were wholly independent and often competitive against each other. Although it did not become an artistic center until the sixteenth century, Antwerp was one of, if not the first. It is first mentioned in 1382, and was given privileges by the city in 1442. The registers, or Liggeren, from the guild exist, cataloging when artists became masters, who the dean for each year was, what their specialities were, and the names of any students. Perhaps because of this link, for a period they had a rule that all miniatures needed a tiny mark to identify the artist, only under special privileges, such as court artist, could an artist effectively practice their craft without holding membership in the guild. Membership also allowed members to sell works at the guild-owned showroom, Antwerp, for example, opened a market stall for selling paintings in front of the cathedral in 1460, and Bruges followed in 1482. Guilds of St. Luke in the Dutch Republic began to reinvent themselves as cities there changed over to Protestant rule, many St. Luke guilds reissued charters to protect the interests of local painters from the influx of southern talent from places like Antwerp and Bruges. Many cities in the republic became more important artistic centres in the late sixteenth. Amsterdam was the first city to reissue a St. Lukes charter after the reformation in 1579, and it included painters, sculptors, engravers, for example, Gouda, Rotterdam, and Delft, all founded guilds between 1609 and 1611. On the other hand, these distinctions did not take effect at that time in Amsterdam or Haarlem, in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, however, a strict hierarchy was attempted in 1631 with panel painters at the top, though this hierarchy was eventually rejected
7.
Santi Luca e Martina
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Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus. The church was dedicated to Saint Martina, martyred in 228 AD during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus. In 625 Pope Honorius I commissioned construction of the church, in 1577 the Accademia di San Luca, the academy of painters, sculptors and architects in Rome, was founded and in 1588 it was given the church which was rededicated as S. Luca in S. Martina. The academy undertook minor refurbishments of the church and also there were projects for a new church prepared in drawings attributed to Ottaviano Mascherino, gradually the academy began to acquire properties adjacent to the church. In 1634, Pietro da Cortona was elected president of the academy, almost at once he began restoration of the crypt and, as was common at this time in Rome, buried remains were found and were attributed to the martyred Saint Martina. No doubt it was hoped that this would precipitate an influx of funds to shelter the relics in a new church, at the time of Cortonas death in 1669, some parts, such as the interior dome decoration, were still incomplete. The plan of the church is almost a Greek cross with nearly equal arms. Large Ionic columns, supporting an entablature, cluster around the crossing and populate the wall spaces of the apsidal transepts, choir. The windows in the vaults are each surmounted by a split pediment with a head in a scallop shell with octagonal coffering above. A circular opening in the vault of the octagonal chapel allows a view through up to the dome of the upper church, other elements such as pediments and mouldings are allowed to project between the columns to create spatial tensions which are reminiscent of Florentine Mannerism. Below this is a marble statue of the martyred S. Martina by Nicolo Menghini. In the left transept is an Assumption and Saint Sebastian by Sebastiano Conca, inside the main entrance door to the upper shurch, a stone slab marks Cortonas burial place and there is a wall memorial with a bust of Cortona by Bernrdo Fioiti in the lower church. The sculptures of the Evangelists in the pendentives of the dome are 18th-century additions sculpted by Filippo della Valle, Camillo Rusconi, to the right of the entrance is the monument to Carlo Pio Balestra by Tommaso Righi and a Monument to Giovanna Garzoni by Mattia De Rossi. In the sacristy is a relief of the Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene by Alessandro Algardi
8.
Pietro da Cortona
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Pietro da Cortona was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini and he was also an important designer of interior decorations. He was born Pietro Berrettini, but is known by the name of his native town of Cortona in Tuscany. He worked mainly in Rome and Florence, only a limited number of his architectural projects were built but nonetheless they are as distinctive and as inventive as those of his rivals. Berrettini was born into a family of artisans and masons, in Cortona and he trained in painting in Florence under Andrea Commodi, but soon he departed for Rome at around 1612/3, where he joined the studio of Baccio Ciarpi. In Rome, he had encouragement from many prominent patrons, according to Cortonas biographers his gifted copy of Raphaels Galatea fresco brought him to the attention of Marcello Sacchetti, papal treasurer during the Barberini papacy. Such contacts helped him gain a major commission in Rome. In 1633, Pope Urban VIII commissioned from Cortona a large painting for the main salon ceiling of the Barberini family palace. It was completed six years later, following Cortonas influential visit to northern Italy where he would have seen at first hand perspectival works by Paolo Veronese, Cortonas huge Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power marks a watershed in Baroque painting. The ornamented architectural framework essentially forms five compartments, the central and most significant part celebrates the glorification of the reign of Urban VIII in a light filled scene populated with allegorical figures and Barberini family emblems. The illusion of spatial extension through paint, the grandiose theme, the first two represented the ages of silver and gold. In 1641, he was recalled to paint the Bronze Age and he began work on the decoration of the grand-ducal reception rooms on the first floor of the Palazzo Pitti, now part of the Palatine Gallery. These highly ornate ceilings with frescoes and elaborate stucco work essentially celebrate the Medici lineage, Pietro left Florence in 1647, and his pupil and collaborator, Ciro Ferri, completed the cycle by the 1660s. For a number of years, Cortona was involved for decades in the decoration of the frescoes in the Oratorian Chiesa Nuova in Rome. Other frescoes are in Palazzo Pamphilj in Piazza Navona, in 1660, he executed The Stoning of Saint Stephen for the church of San Ambrogio della Massima in Rome. The work currently hangs in the Hermitage, towards the end of his life he devoted much of his time to architecture, but he published a treatise on painting in 1652 under a pseudonym and in collaboration. He refused invitations to both France and Spain and he was elected as director of the Academy of St Luke the painters guild in Rome, in 1634. It was at the Academy in 1636 that Cortona and Andrea Sacchi were involved in controversies regarding the number of figures that were appropriate in a painted work
9.
Illuminated manuscript
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An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as Western works. This article covers the technical, social and economic history of the subject, for an art-historical account, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent artistic and historical value, had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, most literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe. As it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians, the majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, a number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls, a very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment, beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages, many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. There are a few examples from later periods, the type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a display book, varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods, the Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types, reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice, the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests. The Gothic period, which saw an increase in the production of these beautiful artifacts, also saw more secular works such as chronicles
10.
Pope Sixtus IV
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Pope Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 9 August 1471 to his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included building the Sistine Chapel and the creation of the Vatican Archives, a patron of the arts, the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpieces of the citys new artistic age. Sixtus aided the Spanish Inquisition, though he fought to prevent abuses therein and he was famed for his nepotism and was personally involved in the infamous Pazzi conspiracy. Francesco was born to a family of modest means from Liguria, Italy and he was born in Celle Ligure, a town near Savona. He went on to lecture at Padua and many other Italian universities, in 1464, Della Rovere was elected Minister General of the Franciscan order at the age of 50. In 1467, he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul II with the church being the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli. Before his papal election, Cardinal della Rovere was renowned for his unworldliness and had even written learned treatises entitled On the Blood of Christ and On the Power of God. His pious reputation was one of the factors that prompted the College of Cardinals to elect him pope upon the unexpected death of Paul II at the age of fifty-four. Upon being elected pope Della Rovere adopted the name Sixtus – a name that had not been used since the 5th century, one of his first acts was to declare a renewed crusade against the Ottoman Turks in Smyrna. However, after the conquest of Smyrna, the fleet disbanded, some fruitless attempts were made towards unification with the Greek Church. For the remainder of his pontificate, Sixtus turned to temporal issues, Sixtus IV sought to strengthen his position by surrounding himself with relatives and friends. His nephew Pietro Riario also benefited from his nepotism, Pietro became one of the richest men in Rome and was entrusted with Pope Sixtus foreign policy. However, Pietro died prematurely in 1474, and his role passed to Giuliano della Rovere, six of the thirty-four cardinals that he created were his nephews. Francesco Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa and an organizer of the plot, was hanged on the walls of the Florentine Palazzo della Signoria. To this, Sixtus IV replied with an interdict and two years of war with Florence, however, Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial. However, such accusations are easily dismissed as propaganda, but did nevertheless prompt the noted historian of the Catholic Church, Ludwig von Pastor. Sixtus continued a dispute with King Louis XI of France, who upheld the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, according to which papal decrees needed royal assent before they could be promulgated in France. This was a cornerstone of the claimed for the Gallican Church
