Francesco Albani

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Francesco Albani
Born17 August 1578
Bologna
Died4 October 1660(1660-10-04) (aged 82)
Bologna
NationalityItalian
Known forPainting
MovementBaroque

Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter of Albanian origin who was active in Bologna (1591–1600), Rome (1600–1609), Bologna (1609), Viterbo (1609–1610), Bologna (1610), Rome (1610–1617), Bologna (1618–1660), Mantova (1621–1622), Roma (1623–1625) and Florence (1633).

Early years in Bologna

Albani was born in

Bolognese school, including Domenichino, Massari, Viola, Lanfranco, Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, Pietro Faccini, Remigio Cantagallina, and Reni
.

Mature work in Rome

Baptism of Christ, c. 1640, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

In 1600, Albani moved to Rome to work on the fresco decoration of the gallery of the

Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma had married Margherita Aldobrandini. Parma, like Bologna, being part of the Region of Emilia-Romagna, it was not surprising that Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, Ranuccio's brother, chose to patronise the Carraccis from Bologna, thereby establishing Bolognese dominance of Roman fresco
painting for nearly two decades.

Albani became one of Annibale's most prominent apprentices. Using Annibale's designs and assisted by Lanfranco and

Palazzo Mattei di Giove
in Rome. He later completed two other frescoes in the same palace, also on the theme of Life of Joseph.

In 1609, he completed the ceiling of a large hall with Fall of Phaeton and Council of the Gods for the

Bassano (di Sutri) Romano. This work was commissioned by Vincenzo Giustiniani, also famous as a patron of Caravaggio
.

During 1612–14, Albani completed the Choir frescoes at the church of Santa Maria della Pace which had just been remodelled by Pietro da Cortona. In 1616 he painted ceiling frescoes of Apollo and the Seasons at Palazzo Verospi in Via del Corso for the cardinal Fabrizio Verospi.

In his later years, Albani developed a mutual, though respectful, rivalry with the more successful

Palazzo del Quirinale
.

Albani's best frescoes are those on mythological subjects. Among the best of his sacred subjects are a St Sebastian and an Assumption of the Virgin, both in the church of

Francesco Mola, and Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi were among his students.[citation needed] Following the death of his wife he returned to Bologna, where he married a second time and lived until his death.[2]

Legacy

Albani never acquired the monumentality or tenebrism that was quaking the contemporary world of painters, and is often derided for his lyric, cherubim-filled sweetness, which often has not yet shaken the mannerist elegance. While Albani's thematic would have appealed to

Poussin, he lacked the Frenchman's muscular drama. His style sometimes seems to have more in common with the decorative Rococo
than with the painting of his own time.

Among his pupils were his brother

Andrea Sghizzi, Giovanni Battista Speranza, Antonio Maria del Sole, Emilio Taruffi, and Francesco Vaccaro.[3]

Major works

Works owned by the Musée du Louvre

  • Actaeon Changed into a Stag (c. 1630)
  • Actaeon Changed into a Stag (c. 1617)
  • Adonis Led by Cupids to Venus (1621–1633)
  • Apollo and Daphne (c. 1615–1620)
  • The Lamentation of Christ (c. 1601–1602)
  • The Toilet of Venus (1621–1633)
  • The Annunciation (c. 1620–1625)
  • Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene / Noli me tangere (c. 1620–1625)
  • The Eternal Father and the Angel Gabriel (c. 1650–1660)
  • Venus and Vulcan Resting (1621–1633)
  • Nymphs Disarming Cupids (1621–1633)
  • Saint Francis of Assisi Praying Before a Crucifix (c. 1630–1650)
  • Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (c. 1630–1640)
  • Venus and Adonis (c. 1630–1640)
  • The Nativity (c. 1600), attributed
  • The Holy Family (Sacra Famiglia), 1630–35, oil on canvas, Galleria Pitti, Florence
    The Holy Family (Sacra Famiglia), 1630–35, oil on canvas, Galleria Pitti, Florence
  • Venus and Amor, oil on canvas
    Venus and Amor, oil on canvas

References

  • Wittkower, Rudolf (1993). Art and Architecture Italy, 1600-1750. Penguin Books, Pelican History of Art. pp. 78–80, 82–83.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Albani, Francesco". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 481.

Notes

  1. ^ Puglisi, Catherine; Francesco Albani (1999). Francesco Albani. Yale University Press.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
  3. ^ Hobbes, p.3

External links

Media related to Francesco Albani at Wikimedia Commons

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