inchide

Newsletter

Stay tuned with arts. Subscribe to Artline art news send directly to your mailbox by artLine.ro
Artline.ro on FaceBook Artline.ro on Twitter Multimedia
ro | en
Contact
Upload artworks

Baciccio Giovanni-Battista Gaulli

0 Comments

 Born on 08 May 1639: Giovanni-Battista Gaulli “Il Baciccio”, Italian painter who died on 02 April 1709.



Giovanni Battista Gaulli was born in Genoa. He was active mainly in Rome, where he settled in 1657 and became a protégé of Bernini. He achieved success as a painter of altarpieces and portraits (he painted each of the seven popes from Alexander VII to Clement XI), but is remembered mainly for his decorative work and above all for his Adoration of the Name of Jesus (1679) on the ceiling of the nave of the Gesu. This is one of the supreme masterpieces of illusionistic decoration, ranking alongside Pozzo's slightly later ceiling in S. Ignazio. The stucco figures that are so brilliantly combined with the painted decoration (from the ground it is not always possible to tell which is which) are the work of Bernini's student Antonio Raggi [1624-1686].


It is believed that Gaulli, known as Baciccio (the Genoese nickname for Giovanni Battista), left his native Genoa after his entire family perished, presumably in the plague of 1657. At that time he moved permanently to Rome. During the decade of the 1660s Baciccio established himself as one of the leading artists working in the Eternal City, most particularly as the result of the favor of the illustrious sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Baciccio became a member of the Academy of Saint Luke in 1662 and held several offices in that body. Through Bernini's recommendation Baciccio was chosen over such competitors as Carlo Maratta, Giacento Brandi, and Ciro Ferri to execute the decorative cycle for the interior of the church of 11 Gesu, the recently completed mother church of the Jesuit order. Begun in 1676, the nave vault fresco, The Triumph of the Name of Jesus, was unveiled on New Year's Eve of 1679. In this work, universally considered the culmination of baroque illusionistic ceiling painting, Baciccio masterfully orchestrated painting and sculptural details within the architectural context.


He created a tumultuous scene of figures who seem to hover over or tumble into the viewer's space. Baciccio continued to work in 11 Gesu until 1685, frescoing nave, dome, pendentives, apse, and transept vaults. The total ensemble is one of the glories of the Counter-Reformation. Stylistically Baciccio's works reveal the lasting influence of his Genoese heritage. This early exposure to fellow Genoese artists, including Valerio Castello and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, is evident in the vibrant coloring, activated drapery, and fluid figural lines. In addition Baciccio employed the energetic brushstroke introduced to Genoa in the 1620s by the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck. In his later works Baciccio set aside the flamboyant rhythms and colors of the high baroque, conceding to the ascendancy of late baroque classicism.

Rate This


Same subject: Baciccio | Genoa | Rome | van Dyck
Comentarii 0 comentarii
Scrie comentariu
Introdu mai jos textul de aici
Scrie in casuta de mai sus codul de verificare
Alte articole din:
Personalitatea zilei

Newsletter

Stay tuned with arts. Subscribe to Artline art news send directly to your mailbox by artLine.ro

Recommended News

Bruce Springsteen Facts Bruce Springsteen Facts
1. In the official video for Glory Days you can see both Bruce's first wife, Julianne Phillips, and his second and current wife, Patti Scialfa. 2. During decades of touring The Boss has ...
Other recommandations:
Five Facts About Pierre-Auguste Renoir World Wide Facts Five Facts About David Duchovny Five Facts About Prague + Read More

Facebook

Be our friend on Facebook and keep in touch with art world wherever you are.

art-Travel

Five Facts About Leipzig Five Facts About Leipzig 1. Leipzig made media history in 1650, when it was the city where the very first newspaper was published. The work of Timotheus Ritzsch, a printer and book merchant who wanted to present the news of the day, Einkommende Zeitungen was published four days a ... Alte destinatii: Did You Know? Facts About Switzerland Five Interesting Facts About Beijing The Neamt Citadel The Warley Museum. Maybe the Smallest One Strange Laws From All Around the World + Places to go