Antonio Gherardi (''Il Reatino'') (20 September 1638 – 10 May 1702) was an Italian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, architect, and sculptor (

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ist) 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 ...

style, active mainly in and near

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and his native city of

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...

Life

Antonio was born in Rieti to Stefano and Giulia Poggi Tatoti, but when he moved to Rome (c. 1656) he changed his name. His father, a middle-class craftsman, died when Antonio was only eight years old. In 1656, Monsignor Bulgarino Bulgarini, Governor of Rieti, became his patron. Two years later Bulgarini sponsored his travel to Rome, and introduced him to his future mentors, Pier Francesco Mola and

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

. In the large workshops organized by the latter, he developed skills in both painting and stucco decoration. The influence of Cortona on Gherardi was so significant that many of his first paintings were attributed to the old master.Bollini, Martina. "This Day in History: September 20", Italian Art Society
/ref> Between 1667 and 1669 Gherardi travelled extensively in northern Italy. Upon his return to Rome, he painted the vulted ceiling in

Santa Maria in Trivio Santa Maria in Trivio is a church in Rome. It is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, and is located on Piazza dei Crociferi in rione Trevi. It is near the Fountain of Trevi. In Mariano Vasi's 19th-century guidebook, the church is referred to a ...

. In 1674, he joined the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

. That same year he began work on scenes from the life of St.Francesco Solano for the Astalli Chapel at

Santa Maria in Ara Coeli The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. ...

. Gherardi drew freely on forms and ideas of

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

, Borromini, and Cortona. The best examples of his work can be seen in the Santa Cecilia Chapel,

San Carlo ai Catinari San Carlo ai Catinari, also called Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari ("Saints Blaise and Charles at the Bowl-Makers") is an early-Baroque style church in Rome, Italy. It is located on Piazza Benedetto Cairoli, 117 just off the corner of Via Arenul ...

, and the Avila Chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere (c.1679), two of the most architecturally inventive chapels of the late-17th century in Rome. In 1698 he was appointed architect and painter of the chapel of Santa Teresa in

Santa Maria in Traspontina The Church of Santa Maria del Carmelo in Traspontina (Saint Mary of Carmel Across the Bridge) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, run by the Carmelites. The bridge referred to is the Ponte Sant'Angelo. The church is on the Via della Conci ...

, which still preserves a painting of the ''Ecstasy of Santa Teresa''."Santa Maria del Carmelo in Traspontina", Churches of Rome
/ref>

Work

Among his works are *The decoration of the vault of

, ''Scenes from the Life of the Virgin'', (1668–1670) *''Birth of the Virgin'' in the Duomo of

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and '' comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

*''Death of Blessed Francesco'' (1675) and architecture, Chapel of the Blessed Francesco Solano in

Santa Maria in Aracoeli The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. ...

, Rome). *''Education of the Virgin'' (c. 1675, 2nd chapel on left of Duomo of

Poggio Mirteto Poggio Mirteto is a '' comune'' (municipality) and former Catholic bishopric in Sabina in the Central Italian region Lazio (Latium). Administratively Poggio Mirteto is in the province of Rieti (formerly part of the province of Perugia) and geog ...

). *''Holy family with young John the Baptist'', (c. 1675, Duomo of

Monterotondo Monterotondo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. History According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of the ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th ce ...

). *''Scenes from the Life of Esther'', (1673–1674, Palazzo Naro, Rome)"Antonio Gherardi ", ''Visit Rieti'', City of Rieti
/ref> *''Crucifixion'', (1674–1686,

Santi Claudio e Andrea dei Borgognoni The Church of SS. Claudius and Andrew of the Burgundians ( it, Santi Claudio e Andrea dei Borgognoni, french: Saints-Claude-et-André-des-Bourguignons) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Claudius of Besançon and the apostle Saint An ...

, Rome, lost). *''Vision of S. Filippo Neri'' & ''S. Camillo de Lellis heals dying Crescenzi family member'', (1677, sacristy, Santa Maria in Trivio). *Stucco for main altar (1677,

). *''The miracle of Holy Shroud'' & ''Christ lying on Shroud with Donors from House of Savoy and Sts. Massimo & Maurizio, Blessed Amedeo, Margherita & Ludovica'', (1680–1682, Altarpiece, Santissimo Sudario dei Piemontesi; payment 140 scudi). *''Saint Jerome penitent in desert'', (1680, painted to substitute for painting by

Durante Alberti Durante Alberti (c. 1556 – 1623) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period. He was born in Borgo San Sepolcro. He was active mainly in his native town and Rome, where he arrived during the papacy of Gregory XIII. He was also call ...

) and the architecture of the Avila chapel in Santa Maria in Trastevere *''Santa Cecilia'' (1692) and the architecture of the Santa Cecilia Chapel (1695–1700) in

*''Ecstasy of Saint Theresa'' (1698,

, Rome). *''Immaculate Conception'' for church of Sant'Antonio al Monte,

. *Ephemeral funerary decorations for Alfonso di Portugal in

Sant'Antonio dei Portoghesi The church of Saint Anthony in Campo Marzio, known as Saint Anthony of the Portuguese ( it, Sant'Antonio dei Portoghesi, pt, Santo António dos Portugueses), is a Baroque Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Lisbo ...

, also others to celebrate the extirpation of Calvinism in France.

References

External links

Recent exhibition in Rieti on Antonio Gherardi.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gherardi, Antonio 1638 births 1702 deaths 17th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Italian Baroque painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters People from Rieti Architects of Roman Catholic churches Catholic painters Catholic sculptors Catholic decorative artists 18th-century Italian male artists