Baldassare Croce (

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

, 1558–November 8, 1628) was an Italian painter, active during the late-

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

period, active mainly in and around

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 ...

Biography

He trained in Bologna, and moved to Rome by 1581. Known as a prolific academic painter in Rome; he was named director of the Academy of St. Luke. He painted for the Sala Clementina of the

Vatican palace The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the V ...

, for the Chapel of San Francesco at the Gesù,

San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

, and

San Giacomo degli Spagnoli Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore ("Our Lady of the Sacred Heart", also known as San Giacomo degli Spagnoli and in Spanish, Santiago de los Españoles) is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in Rome's Piazza Navona. History An ...

. He painted six large frescoes along the nave of the church of

Santa Susanna The Church of Saint Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian ( it, Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano) is a Roman Catholic parish church located on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, Italy. There has been a titular church associated to its site ...

, depicting the life of the Susanna from the Old Testament. He worked under Cesare Nebbia and

Giovanni Guerra Giovanni Guerra (1544–1618) 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 Palazzett ...

in the decoration of the ''Scala Santa'' in San Giovanni in Laterano. In January 1628, he was named ''Principe'' (Prince) of 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 fi ...

in Rome.Encyclopedia Treccani
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 31 (1985), entry by Laura Possanzini.

References

* 1558 births 1628 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Bologna Mannerist painters Fresco painters Catholic painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub