Cesare Nebbia
Encyclopedia
Cesare Nebbia is an Italian
painter from Orvieto
who painted in a Mannerist
style.
, and under this master, he helped complete a flurry of decoration that was added to the Cathedral of Orvieto in the 1560s. Almost all the remaining work in Orvieto is now in the Museo del Duomo.
Nebbia and Muziano became active in many of the premier projects in late 16th century Rome
. Nebbia and Muziano's other assistant, Giovanni Guerra
, decorated the Gregorian Chapel in the St Peter's Basilica during the administration of Gregory XIII (1572–1585). Other Mannerist painters that were involved in this enterprise were Taddeo
and Federico Zuccari
, Niccolò Circignani
, and Hendrick van den Broeck (known as Arrigo Fiammingo).
Fresco decorations in Palazzo Simonelli in Torre San Severo have been attributed to Nebbia. In 1576, he painted a Resurrection of Lazarus for the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Pieve
.
During the administration of Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590), Nebbia and Guerra together managed the two major fresco decorations commissioned by the papacy: the construction and decoration of the Capella Sistina at Santa Maria Maggiore and the refurbishment of the Scala Santa and the chapel of St. Lawrence found adjacent to the Lateran palace and San Giovanni in Laterano.
The Sistine chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore was meant to be a burial chapel for pope Sixtus, and constructed over the supposed presepe relic, and should not to be confused with the more famous Vatican
counterpart, the Sistine chapel
.
The Scala Santa project involved an amalgam of structures, it comprises five parallel staircases leading to a common corridor, opening up to chapels, the central one of which was the private papal chapel of St. Laurence or Sancta Sanctorum of the gothic
Lateran Palace, and held numeorous relics, including the icon of Santissimi Salvatore Acheiropoieton (not painted by human hands). The staircases were said to have been from the palace of Pilate in Jerusalem.
In the project at Santa Maria Maggiore starting in 1586, Baglione
traditionally lists for ten painters who were active in the fresco decoration as Hendrick van den Broek, Angelo from Orvieto, Ercolino from Bologna, Salvatore Fontana, Lattanzio Mainardi
, Ferdinando Sermei, Giacomo Stella
, Giovanni Battista Pozzo, and Paris Nogari
. The decoration for the church and a chapel which held the relic of the Nativity (the original Presepe or manger crib) shows scenes of the life of the Virgin
. For the project at the Scala Santa, an overlapping crew of artists was also employed to decorate frescoes including Giovanni Baglione
himself, Stella, G.B. Pozzo, Nogari, as well as Prospero Orsi, Ferraù Fenzoni
, Paul Bril, Paulo Guidotti, Giovanni Battista Ricci, Cesaro Torelli, Antonio Vivarini
, Andrea Lilio
, Cesare & Vicenzo Conti Baldassare Croce
, Ventura Salimbeni
, and Antonio Scalvati. Numerous preliminary drawings by Nebbia exist for these frescoes.
Nebbia helped paint galleries in Vatican libraries including the ceilings of map gallery. During Clement VIII he designed pendentive mosaics for Matthew and Mark for St. Peter's Basilica
. He painted a Crucifixion for Borghese
chapel in Trinità dei Monti
. He painted a resurrection for San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. He painted a Coronation of the Virgin for Santa Maria dei Monti.
Along with Il Bertoia
, Federico Zuccari
and others, he helped paint the frescoes on the wall of the Oratorio del Gonfalone
in Rome. He also contributed to the decoration of the Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso
.
In 1603-1604, he moved to Milan
where he worked for Federico Borromeo
painting a series of frescoes on the life of the Blessed Carlo Borromeo for various sites, including the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia
, the collegiata di Arona, and the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
painter from Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
who painted in a Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
style.
Biography
He trained with Girolamo MuzianoGirolamo Muziano
Girolamo Muziano , was an Italian painter, active in a late-Renaissance or Mannerism style. He was born in Acquafredda, near Brescia, but active mainly in Rome....
, and under this master, he helped complete a flurry of decoration that was added to the Cathedral of Orvieto in the 1560s. Almost all the remaining work in Orvieto is now in the Museo del Duomo.
Nebbia and Muziano became active in many of the premier projects in late 16th century Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Nebbia and Muziano's other assistant, Giovanni Guerra
Giovanni Guerra
Giovanni Guerra was an Italian draughtsman and painter from Modena who worked in Rome, where he probably arrived in 1562, though he was not documented until 1583, when he frescoed three friezes of allegorical figures in the Palazzetto Cenci, a modest project for a patron who was not very...
, decorated the Gregorian Chapel in the St Peter's Basilica during the administration of Gregory XIII (1572–1585). Other Mannerist painters that were involved in this enterprise were Taddeo
Taddeo Zuccari
Taddeo Zuccari was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school.-Biography:...
and Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccari, also known as Federigo Zuccaro , was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.-Biography:Zuccari was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ....
, Niccolò Circignani
Niccolò Circignani
Niccolò Circignani was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period.Born in Pomarance, he is one of three Italian painters called Pomarancio. His first works are documented from the 1560s, where he painted frescos on the Old Testament stories for the Vatican Belvedere, where he...
, and Hendrick van den Broeck (known as Arrigo Fiammingo).
Fresco decorations in Palazzo Simonelli in Torre San Severo have been attributed to Nebbia. In 1576, he painted a Resurrection of Lazarus for the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Pieve
Pieve
In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...
.
During the administration of Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590), Nebbia and Guerra together managed the two major fresco decorations commissioned by the papacy: the construction and decoration of the Capella Sistina at Santa Maria Maggiore and the refurbishment of the Scala Santa and the chapel of St. Lawrence found adjacent to the Lateran palace and San Giovanni in Laterano.
The Sistine chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore was meant to be a burial chapel for pope Sixtus, and constructed over the supposed presepe relic, and should not to be confused with the more famous Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
counterpart, the Sistine chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
.
The Scala Santa project involved an amalgam of structures, it comprises five parallel staircases leading to a common corridor, opening up to chapels, the central one of which was the private papal chapel of St. Laurence or Sancta Sanctorum of the gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
Lateran Palace, and held numeorous relics, including the icon of Santissimi Salvatore Acheiropoieton (not painted by human hands). The staircases were said to have been from the palace of Pilate in Jerusalem.
In the project at Santa Maria Maggiore starting in 1586, Baglione
Giovanni Baglione
Giovanni Baglione was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He is best remembered for his acrimonious involvement with the artist Caravaggio and his writings concerning the other Roman artists of his time.-Early life:A pupil of Francesco Morelli, he worked mainly...
traditionally lists for ten painters who were active in the fresco decoration as Hendrick van den Broek, Angelo from Orvieto, Ercolino from Bologna, Salvatore Fontana, Lattanzio Mainardi
Lattanzio Mainardi
Lattanzio Mainardi was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. Originally from or near Bologna and referred to as Lattanzio Bolognese by Giovanni Baglione. He painted some of the frescoes for the Chapel of Pope Sixtus V in Santa Maria Maggiore, including the figures of...
, Ferdinando Sermei, Giacomo Stella
Giacomo Stella
Giacomo Stella was an Italian painter of painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period, active mainly in Rome.Born in Brescia, he left for Rome as a young man in 1572, during the papacy of Gregory XIII, and still remained in Rome after 1644. He worked under Cesare Nebbia in the decoration of...
, Giovanni Battista Pozzo, and Paris Nogari
Paris Nogari
Paris Nogari was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, a minor pupil of Cesare Nebbia active mainly in Rome. He painted in the library of the Vatican in a style resembling Raffaellino da Reggio and was among the painters who frescoed Santa Susanna.-References:...
. The decoration for the church and a chapel which held the relic of the Nativity (the original Presepe or manger crib) shows scenes of the life of the Virgin
Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space...
. For the project at the Scala Santa, an overlapping crew of artists was also employed to decorate frescoes including Giovanni Baglione
Giovanni Baglione
Giovanni Baglione was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He is best remembered for his acrimonious involvement with the artist Caravaggio and his writings concerning the other Roman artists of his time.-Early life:A pupil of Francesco Morelli, he worked mainly...
himself, Stella, G.B. Pozzo, Nogari, as well as Prospero Orsi, Ferraù Fenzoni
Ferraù Fenzoni
Ferraù Fenzoni was an Italian painter mainly active in Todi. He is also called Il Faenzone after his birthplace ....
, Paul Bril, Paulo Guidotti, Giovanni Battista Ricci, Cesaro Torelli, Antonio Vivarini
Antonio Vivarini
Antonio Vivarini was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-late Gothic period, who worked mostly in the Republic of Venice...
, Andrea Lilio
Andrea Lilio
Andrea Lilio was an Italian painter born in Fano, not far from Ancona, hence he also is known as L'Anconitano.He painted mainly in his native city, as well as in Rome, where he was active from the beginning of the 17th century until around 1640...
, Cesare & Vicenzo Conti Baldassare Croce
Baldassare Croce
Baldassare Croce was an Italian painter, active during the late-Mannerist period, active mainly in and around Rome.Known as a prolific academic painter in Rome; he was named director of the Academy of St. Luke...
, Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura di Archangelo Salimbeni was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker and among the last representatives of a style influenced by the earlier Sienese School of Quattrocento-Renaissance....
, and Antonio Scalvati. Numerous preliminary drawings by Nebbia exist for these frescoes.
Nebbia helped paint galleries in Vatican libraries including the ceilings of map gallery. During Clement VIII he designed pendentive mosaics for Matthew and Mark for St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
. He painted a Crucifixion for Borghese
Borghese
Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century holding offices under the commune. The head of the family, Marcantonio, moved to Rome in the 16th century and there,...
chapel in Trinità dei Monti
Trinità dei Monti
The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti is a late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its commanding position above the Spanish Steps which lead down to the Piazza di Spagna...
. He painted a resurrection for San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. He painted a Coronation of the Virgin for Santa Maria dei Monti.
Along with Il Bertoia
Giacomo Zanguidi
Jacopo Bertoia, also known as Giacomo Zanguidi or Jacopo Zanguidi or Bertoja, , was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Mannerist style that emerged in Parma towards the end of the 16th century....
, Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccari, also known as Federigo Zuccaro , was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.-Biography:Zuccari was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ....
and others, he helped paint the frescoes on the wall of the Oratorio del Gonfalone
Oratorio del Gonfalone
The Oratorio del Gonfalone or Oratory of the Banner is a building in Central Rome which once housed a Catholic fraternity.Founded in 1264 under the name of the Accomandati di Madonna Santa Maria, over the centuries the group dedicated itself to various activities, including the participation in...
in Rome. He also contributed to the decoration of the Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso
Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso
The Oratorio del Santissimo Crocifisso or the Oratory of the Most Holy Crucifix is a building in central Rome, Italy. Located next to the church of San Marcello al Corso, it served as a prayer hall and meeting house for the Confraternita del SS. Crocifisso...
.
In 1603-1604, he moved to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
where he worked for Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo was an Italian ecclesiastic, cardinal and archbishop of Milan.-Biography:Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borromeo, Count of Arona, and Margherita Trivulzio...
painting a series of frescoes on the life of the Blessed Carlo Borromeo for various sites, including the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, the collegiata di Arona, and the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella
Isola Bella (Lago Maggiore)
Isola Bella is one of the Borromean Islands of Lago Maggiore in north Italy. The island is situated in the Borromean Gulf 400 meters from the lakeside town of Stresa...
.