Angelo Michele Colonna (21 September 1604 - 1687) was an Italian painter of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period, active in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, northern and central Italy and Spain. He is sometimes referred to as Michelangelo Colonna.

Biography

He was born in Rovenna. As a boy in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

, he worked with a painter by the name of

Caprera Caprera is an island in the Maddalena archipelago off the coast of Sardinia, Italy. In the area of La Maddalena island in the Strait of Bonifacio, it is a tourist destination and the place to which Giuseppe Garibaldi retired from 1854 until his ...

. By 1617, he travelled to Bologna to apprentice with Gabriello Ferrantino or ''il Occhiale'', and then the early ''quadratura'' master,

Girolamo Curti Girolamo Curti (1575–1632) was an Italian painter of the early-Baroque, specializing in quadratura. Biography He was also called ''il Dentone''. He was born to a poor family at Bologna, and worked for cloth spinner till age 25. His first formal ...

, called ''il Dentone''. He painted frescoes for the Palazzo Albergati in Bologna. He would have been known by the biographer of Bolognese artists,

Cesare Malvasia Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616–1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled ''Felsina pittrice'', published in 1678. Life and career Malvasia is the Bolognese equivalent ...

, for whom Colonna frescoed the Villa Malvasia in Trebbo in 1624, along with Curti and

Domenico Ambrogi Domenico Ambrogi (c. 1600-after 1678) was an Italian painter from Bologna of the 17th century, also called ''Menichino'' or ''Menghino del Brizio'', after a master. Mainly known as a decorator of quadratura. He is also known as Domenico degli Amb ...

. The following year, Curti and Colonna frescoed parts of the Villa Paleotti (now Villa Monari-Sardè). Also in 1625, along with Ambrogi, he carried out frescoes in the Villa Malvezzi-Campeggi in Bagnarola and after being recommended by

Alessandro Tiarini Alessandro Tiarini (20 March 1577 – 8 February 1668) was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. Biography Alessandro Tiarini was born in Bologna. His mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by an aunt. Early on his fa ...

, he helped to decorate the ceiling of the church of Sant'Alessandro in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. In 1625, he collaborated with

Lucio Massari Lucio Massari (22 January 1569 – 3 November 1633) was an Italian painter of the School of Bologna. He can be described as painting during both Mannerist and early-Baroque periods. Life and work He was born in Bologna, where he initially a ...

Francesco Gessi Francesco Gessi (20 January 1588 – 1649) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna. Biography Born to a noble family, his father noticed his attraction to the arts and placed him in the apprenticeship with Den ...

and others in the decoration of the Oratory of San Rocco in Bologna, painting six of the saints and allegories. In 1627, he painted in San Michele in Bosco. After Curti died in 1632, Colonna began a long collaboration with the skilled ''quadratura'' painter

Agostino Mitelli Agostino Mitelli (16 March 1609 – 2 August 1660) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period and best known as a fresco painter of ''quadratura'' or illusionistic perspectival architectural frameworks. He was born in Battedizzo, near Bologna ...

until 1660. Together they contributed to the decorations of the

Palazzo Spada The Palazzo Spada is a palace located on Piazza di Capo Ferro #13 in the rione Regola of Rome, Italy. Standing very close to the Palazzo Farnese, it has a garden facing towards the Tiber river. The palace accommodates a large art collection, th ...

in Rome, and then painted in the

Pitti Palace The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

in Florence, including a large fresco of the 'Fame of the Medici crowned by Glory'. They became the pre-eminent ''quadratura'' fresco painters of northern Italy with Colonna principally executing the figurative elements and Mitelli, the ''quadratura'' or illusionistic architectural frameworks: in Modena, they painted in the Este palace at

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

;The courtyard frescoes have deteriorated they executed the ceiling of the now destroyed ''Oratorio de San Girolamo'' of

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

; in 1657 they carried out the decoration of the chapel of the Rosary in the

basilica of San Domenico The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy. The remains of Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers ( Dominicans), are buried inside the exquisite shrine Arca di San Domenico, made by Nicola Pisano and hi ...

in Bologna, including a framed 'Assumption of the Virgin'; and between 1653-8, they painted the gallery leading to the High Altar of

San Michele in Bosco San Michele in Bosco is a religious complex in Bologna, central Italy, including the church with the same name and the annexed Olivetan monastery. The buildings of the monastery were acquired in 1955 by the municipality of Bologna, to house an o ...

. In 1658, Colonna left Italy to go to Spain to work for

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

; he had initially been contracted for this work by

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

. He was to return to Italy in 1662, where his collaborator now was Mitelli's pupil, Giacomo Alboresi (1632–1677). He continued to be prolific in Bologna, decorating the Palazzo Cospi-Ferreti, Bologna and a chapel in the church of San Bartolomeo (1667). In 1677, he completed frescoes for the Council Hall of the '' Palazzo Comunale'' or town hall of Bologna, working with

Gioacchino Pizzoli Gioacchino Pizzoli (Bologna, 1651- 1733) was an Italian painter, active as a history and figure painter during the Baroque period. Biography He was trained in Bologna, and married the painter Maria Oriana Galli da Bibbiena (1656–1749), daughte ...

. Giuseppe Romani was one of his apprentices. Colonna died at

in 1687.

References

Sources

* *Anales de Historia del Arte 1998. 8:197-222; ''Angelo Michele Colonna: sus aportaciones à la pintura barroca decorativa en Italia'' by Aida Anguiano de Miguel. *

External links

Biography in Italian.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonna, Angelo Michele 1604 births 1687 deaths People from the Province of Como 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Bologna Italian Baroque painters Quadratura painters