Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of Guido Reni and

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

, as well as those of

Simone Cantarini Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called ''il Pesarese'' (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian painter and etcher. He is mainly known for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original style, whi ...

. This gentle manner marked a break with the more energetic style of earlier Bolognese classicism of the Bolognese School of painting.

Life

He was born to a family of noble ancestry, but limited resources, in

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 ...

. His father's first name was Pompeo, and his mother, Maddalena Quaini. Madonna and Child (Boston Public Library)

In Bologna, he studied first under Battista Cairo and later under

Francesco Albani Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter who was active in Bologna (1591–1600), Rome (1600–1609), Bologna (1609), Viterbo (1609–1610), Bologna (1610), Rome (1610–1617) ...

, to whom he remained closely allied, and was his most famous disciple. His first noted commission was a ''St Paul exorcising demon'' for the church of the Gesu in Bologna. For a hall dedicated to the Farnese in the Palazzo Publico, he painted with Taruffi, depicting the ''Francis, king of France, curing Scrofula on his entry to Bologna'' and the ''Entry of Paul III Farnese to Bologna. He was also strongly influenced by the genius of

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

and by the masterworks by

Melozzo da Forlì Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school. Biography ...

. For instance, his masterpiece, the ''Assumption of the Virgin'', around the cupola of the church of the Madonna del Fuoco at

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via ...

, is inspired by the Correggio's frescoes in the cupola of the

Cathedral of Parma Parma Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Parma; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Parma, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Parma. I ...

and by the Melozzo's perspective from down to up. These frescoes occupied Cignani for some twenty years. In 1681 Cignani returned to Bologna from Parma. He opened an ''accademia del nudo'' for painting from models and had as one of his pupils

Giuseppe Maria Crespi Giuseppe Maria Crespi (March 14, 1665 – July 16, 1747), nicknamed Lo Spagnuolo ("The Spaniard"), was an Italian late Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. His eclectic output includes religious paintings and portraits, but he is now most ...

. He had some of the defects of his masters: his elaborate finish and his audacious artificiality in the use of color and in composition mark Albani's influence. Despite that, he imparted to his work more of an intellectual character than his mentors. As a man Cignani was eminently amiable, unassuming and generous. Marcello Malpighi by Carlo Cignani

He accepted no honors offered him by the duke of Parma, but lived and died an artist. In 1686 he moved to Forlì, where he died. When the

Accademia Clementina The Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna ("academy of fine arts of Bologna") is a public tertiary academy of fine art in Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. It has a campus in Cesena. Giorgio Morandi taught engraving at the Accademia f ...

for Bolognese artists was founded in 1706, Cignani was posthumously elected ''Principe in absencia'' for life. His most famous pictures, in addition to the ''Assumption'' already cited, are the ''Entry of Paul III into Bologna''; the ''Francis I Touching for Kings Evil''; a ''Power of Love'', painted under a fine ceiling by Agostino Carracci, on the walls of a room in the ducal palace at Parma; an ''Adam and Eve'' (at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

); and two of ''Joseph and Potiphars Wife ''(at Dresden and Copenhagen). His son

Felice Cignani Felice Cignani (January 27, 1660 – January 12, 1724) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Forlì and Bologna. He was a pupil and son of the painter Carlo Cignani. Felice helped train his cousin, Paolo Cignani (1709–1 ...

(1660–1724) and nephew Paolo Cignani (1709–1764) were also painters. His most noted pupils were

Marcantonio Franceschini Marcantonio Franceschini (; 1648 – 24 December 1729) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mostly in his native Bologna. He was the father and teacher of Giacomo Franceschini.''The picture collector's manual'' by James R. Hob ...

and

Federico Bencovich upright 1.2, ''Saint Andrew among the Saints Batholomew, Carlo Borromeo, Lucy and Apollonia'', ca. 1710–1716 Federico Bencovich (1667 – 8 July 1753) was a late Baroque painter from Dalmatia working in Italy. He is best known as ''Federico Ben ...

. Other pupils include Giacomo Boni, Andrea and

Francesco Bondi Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

;

Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi (1653–1725) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born in Bologna. He was the pupil of the painter Giovanni Maria Viani, but followed the style of Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 Septembe ...

; Girolamo Domini; Pietro Donzelli; Francesco Galli; Bonaventura Lamberti; Giovanni Battista Loreti; Matteo Zamboni; Camilla Lauteri; Stefano Maria Legnani; Giovanni Battista Loreti; Charles Lucy (1692 - after 1767), Francesco Mancini; Paolo Antonio Paderna., and

Sante Vandi Sante Vandi (1653–1716) was an Italian portrait painter of the Baroque period. He was a pupil of Carlo Cignani. He is also known as ''Santino da' Ritratti''. In early life he painted at Bologna, but was afterwards employed at Mantua Mantua ...

.Dizionario degli architetti, scultori, pittori, intagliatori d'ogni By Stefano Ticozzi, page 449, 1832

Selected works

*''Penitent Magdalen'',

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest pub ...

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*'' Commons:Image:Carlo_Cignani_001.jpg, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'' (c. 1680), Oil on canvas, 99 x 99 cm, Gemäldegalerie,

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

*''Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'', Musee Fesch, Ajacci

*''Charity'' Oil on canvas, 119.4 x 161.3 cm, San Francisco Museum of Art

* ''I piaceri della vita in campagna'

*''Judgement of Paris'' (1691), Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 161 cm

*''Aurora'', Circolo della Scranna,

br>
*''Incoronazione di Santa Rosa'' (''Coronation of Saint Rose of Lima''), Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica *''Self-portrait'', Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica * With

, ''La Vergine e San Filippo Neri'' (''The Virgin and Saint Philip Neri''), Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica.

Gallery

File:Château de Chantilly, Carlo Cignani, Madonna and Child.JPG, ''Madonna and Child'', circa 1680 File:Moïse sauvé des eaux Nancy 3018.jpg, ''The Finding of Moses,''

Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy The Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy), one of the oldest museums in France, is housed in one of the pavilions on Place Stanislas, in the heart of the 18th-century urban ensemble, a World Heritage Site by U ...

File:Carlo Cignani - Saint Augustine - M.Ob.1102 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Saint Augustine'' File:San Giovannino e l'agnello - Carlo Cignani.jpg, ''Saint John and the Lamb'' File:Cignani, Carlo - The Penitent Magdalen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Penitent Magdalen'', circa 1685–90

References

External links

* * * * , and engraving by William Ensom for The Easter Gift, 1832, with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cignani, Carlo 1628 births 1719 deaths Painters from Bologna 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian male artists