280px, ''Beheading of the Baptist'', Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice Callisto Piazza (1500–1561) was an Italian painter.

Biography

Callisto, a member of the Piazza family of painters, was born in Lodi,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. In 1523 he was working in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. His first dated and signed work is from the following year, and shows a typical Brescian style. This style was then emerging, and included artists such as Romanino and

Moretto Moretto is a surname, and may refer to: *Moretto, or Moretto da Brescia, (c. 1498–1554), Italian Renaissance painter (in his case ''Il Moretto'' was a nickname) *Angie Moretto, NHL player *Enrico Moretto, Italian fighter ace *Graziella Moretto, a ...

. Piazza shows influences from contemporaries such as

Dosso Dossi Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542), was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early T ...

and

Ludovico Mazzolino Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna. Biography He was born and died in Ferrara. He appears to have ...

of the

Ferrarese school A Ferrarese is a citizen of Ferrara, Italy. It may also refer to: People * Adriana Ferrarese del Bene (c. 1755–after 1804), Italian operatic soprano * Don Ferrarese (born 1929), former Major League Baseball pitcher * Enrique Ferrarese (1882–19 ...

, as well as

Giovanni Agostino da Lodi Giovanni Agostino da Lodi was an Italian painter who was active from c. 1495 to c. 1525. The attribution of his works has been dubious for centuries, until his style and career was defined by the American art historian Bernard Berenson. One of h ...

. In 1526–1529 Piazza worked in Val Camonica, at Erbanno, Borno, Breno, Esine and

Cividate Camuno Cividate Camuno ( Camunian: ) is an Italian ''comune'' of 2,774 inhabitants (2011), in Val Camonica, province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of nor ...

. In 1529 he returned to his native Lodi where he formed a workshop with his brothers Cesare and Scipione (died 1552). In 1538, while in Crema, he married the noblewoman Francesca Confalonieri. Later Callisto moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, where he received numerous commissions, such as the decoration of the San Girolamo chapel in

Santa Maria presso San Celso Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso is a church and a sanctuary in Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. History and overview The construction was begun by Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono and Giovanni Battagio in 1493, to house a miraculous icon of the ...

(1542); the decoration of the refectory of the convent of Sant'Ambrogio (1545); the frescoes for the Saletta Negra in the

Castello Sforzesco The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...

; and the decoration of the Simonetta chapel in San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore (1555), largely executed with the assistance of his son Fulvio. He also worked in Lodi at the Incoronata (1454),

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

, at the

Abbey of Chiaravalle The Abbey of Santa Maria di Rovegnano (Latin: ''Sanctæ Mariæ Clarævallis Mediolanensis'') is a Cistercian monastic complex in the ''comune'' of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The '' borgo'' that has developed round the abbey was once an ...

and other areas of Lombardy. His graphic style is often confused with that of Romanino, who exerted a deep influence on his work. Callisto returned to Lodi in 1551 and died there ten years later.

External links

Painters of reality: the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Piazza (see index) *Carl Brandon Strehlke,
''Musical Group'' by Callisto Piazza (cat. 234)
" in
The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works
', ''a'' Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication. {{DEFAULTSORT:Piazza, Callisto 1500 births 1561 deaths People from Lodi, Lombardy 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Milan