Michelangelo Cerquozzi
Encyclopedia
Michelangelo Cerquozzi was an Italian Baroque
painter.
Born and active mainly in Rome
, he is best known for small canvases of genre scenes, and for being one of the Italian proponents of the Bamboccianti
style practised by a Dutch painter in Rome, Pieter van Laer
. He apparently trained with Pietro Paolo Bonzi, called initially il Gobbo di Frutti for his still life
paintings. Cerquozzi joined the Accademia di San Luca
in 1634; however over the next two decades, many prominent painters, such as Andrea Sacchi
in Rome and Francesco Albani
and Guido Reni
in Bologna, disparaged this "low-class" thematic. In addition, in the competitive art world, Cerquozzi had many rivals for the same patrons, including a young Salvator Rosa
.
His friends included Domenico Viola, Pietro da Cortona
, Giacinto Brandi
, Paulus Bor
and Cornelis Bloemaert
. He became known for making battle pictures, and was nicknamed Michelangelo delle Battaglie In 1647, he collaborated with Jan Miel
, Giacomo Borgognone
, and others on illustrations for second volume of Famiano Strada's De Bello Belgico celebrating Alessandro Farnese's campaigns in the Netherlands for the Spanish emperor. Cerquozi also received commissions from Cardinal Rapaccioli and Modenese
Count Camillo Carandini. He painted a canvas in 1648 on the Revolt of Masaniello
. After 1647, he collaborated with the Neapolitan Viviano Codazzi
.
Haskell comments on how the diminutive, doll-like populace of the low-class Bamboccianti scenes would have seemed innocent and disarming to the aristocratic patrons of Cerquozzi and company; while grand manner painting often adhered to life-size figures in large canvases. This, however, would not apply to the mythology-populated landscape scenes of a Claude Lorrain
. Cerquozzi himself also painted some canvases on mythologic canvases, for example Hercules and Herminia and the Shepherds albeit grounded in a peasant world. The tonalities of his paintings are earthen, and there is an affection for the forested landscape.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
painter.
Born and active mainly in 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...
, he is best known for small canvases of genre scenes, and for being one of the Italian proponents of the Bamboccianti
Bamboccianti
The Bamboccianti were genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherlandish art with them to Italy, and generally created small...
style practised by a Dutch painter in Rome, Pieter van Laer
Pieter van Laer
Pieter van Laer was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre scenes, active for over a decade in Rome, where his nickname was Il Bamboccio...
. He apparently trained with Pietro Paolo Bonzi, called initially il Gobbo di Frutti for his still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
paintings. Cerquozzi joined the Accademia di San Luca
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca, was founded in 1577 as an association of artists in Rome, under the directorship of Federico Zuccari, with the purpose of elevating the work of "artists", which included painters, sculptors and architects, above that of mere craftsmen. Other founders included Girolamo...
in 1634; however over the next two decades, many prominent painters, such as Andrea Sacchi
Andrea Sacchi
Andrea Sacchi was an Italian painter of High Baroque Classicism, active in Rome. A generation of artists who shared his style of art include the painters Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Battista Passeri, the sculptors Alessandro Algardi and François Duquesnoy, and the contemporary biographer Giovanni...
in Rome and Francesco Albani
Francesco Albani
Francesco Albani or Albano was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early years in Bologna:Born 1578 in Bologna, his father was a silk merchant who intended to instruct his son in the same trade; but by age twelve, Albani became an apprentice under the competent mannerist painter Denis Calvaert, where he...
and Guido Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
in Bologna, disparaged this "low-class" thematic. In addition, in the competitive art world, Cerquozzi had many rivals for the same patrons, including a young Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
.
His friends included Domenico Viola, Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
, Giacinto Brandi
Giacinto Brandi
Giacinto Brandi was an Italian painter of the Baroque era, active mainly in Rome and Naples.Born in Poli, in the Lazio, he was trained in Rome in the studio of Alessandro Algardi, a noted sculptor, who noted that Brandi was more suited to painting. He joined the studio of Giovanni Giacomo Sementi...
, Paulus Bor
Paulus Bor
Paulus Bor was a Dutch painter.Bor was descended from a notable Catholic family. He made a study trip to Rome, where he was one of the founders of the Bentvueghels, taking the nickname Orlando...
and Cornelis Bloemaert
Cornelis Bloemaert
Cornelis Bloemaert II , was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver.-Biography:Bloemaert was born at Utrecht. He studied with his father, Abraham Bloemaert, his brothers Hendrick and Adriaan, and his father's pupil, Gerard van Honthorst...
. He became known for making battle pictures, and was nicknamed Michelangelo delle Battaglie In 1647, he collaborated with Jan Miel
Jan Miel
Jan Miel was a Flemish painter, active in Italy, emerging from the circle of genre painters influenced by Pieter van Laer and the so-called Bamboccianti painters. He was born in Beveren-Waas near Antwerp, but had traveled to Rome by 1636. Surprisingly, he briefly collaborating with Andrea Sacchi,...
, Giacomo Borgognone
Jacques Courtois
Jacques Courtois was a French painter.-Biography:He was born at Saint-Hippolyte, near Besançon. His father was a painter, and with him Jacques remained studying up to the age of fifteen...
, and others on illustrations for second volume of Famiano Strada's De Bello Belgico celebrating Alessandro Farnese's campaigns in the Netherlands for the Spanish emperor. Cerquozi also received commissions from Cardinal Rapaccioli and Modenese
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
Count Camillo Carandini. He painted a canvas in 1648 on the Revolt of Masaniello
Masaniello
Masaniello was a Neapolitan fisherman, who became leader of the revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule in Naples in 1647.-Name and place of birth:...
. After 1647, he collaborated with the Neapolitan Viviano Codazzi
Viviano Codazzi
Viviano Codazzi was an Italian painter of quadratura , architectural paintings, capricci and ruin pieces, and some vedute during the Baroque period. He was active in Naples and Rome...
.
Haskell comments on how the diminutive, doll-like populace of the low-class Bamboccianti scenes would have seemed innocent and disarming to the aristocratic patrons of Cerquozzi and company; while grand manner painting often adhered to life-size figures in large canvases. This, however, would not apply to the mythology-populated landscape scenes of a Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...
. Cerquozzi himself also painted some canvases on mythologic canvases, for example Hercules and Herminia and the Shepherds albeit grounded in a peasant world. The tonalities of his paintings are earthen, and there is an affection for the forested landscape.