Domenico Ambrogi (c. 1600-after 1678) was an Italian painter from
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 ...
of the 17th century, also called ''Menichino'' or ''Menghino del Brizio'', after a master. Mainly known as a decorator of
quadratura
Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...
. He is also known as Domenico degli Ambrogi. He trained with
Francesco Brizio,
Bernardino Baldi (active 1599-1615), and
Denis Calvaert
Denis (or Denys or Denijs) Calvaert (; around 154016 April 1619) was an Antwerp-born Flemish painter, who lived in Italy for most of his life, where he was known as Dionisio Fiammingo () or simply Il Fiammingo ("the Fleming"). Calvaert was a profo ...
.
Getty ULAN entry
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Biography
Domenico Ambrogi was born in Bologna around 1600. As a young man he was apprenticed to Bernardino Baldi, from whom he left shortly before Bernardino Baldi died (30 Jan. 1612). After that he studied with Denis Calvaert for a short period of time and finally, became an apprentice of Francesco Brizio. At that time Brizio gave public lessons in drawing and perspective, and Ambrogi received the nickname of Menghino or Menichino del Brizio. When he left the master, he collaborated with 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 ...
, known as Dentone as a painter of figures, and with Angelo Michele Colonna
Angelo Michele Colonna (21 September 1604 - 1687) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Bologna, northern and central Italy and Spain. He is sometimes referred to as Michelangelo Colonna.
Biography
He was born in Rovenna. As a ...
as a painter of "quadrature". During his last years he made many designs for decorations and prints. He had pupils Giacinto and Pier Antonio Cerva and Giovanni Antonio Fumiani from Venice, who lived many years in his house and used his drawings to produce his first paintings. He died after 1678.
Works
The works mentioned in sources:
* The frescoes in the hall and in the chapel 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, t ...
(in Brisighella (Ravenna));
* The Madonna del Poggio, (the ceiling of the church of St. Maria del Poggio);
* The chapel in the villa of the marchesi de 'Buoi;
* The loggia and two rooms in the villa of the Marquises Malvezzi (in Bagnarola);
* The frescoed ceilings of five rooms in the Ratta house (In Bologna);
* Frescoed room with stories by Rinaldo, in the house of the poet Cesare Rinaldi
Cesare Rinaldi (12 December 1559 – 6 February 1636) was one of Bologna's most eminent poets. His verse was set to music as madrigals by Salamone Rossi and the circle of the Gonzaga Court at Mantua. He also wrote verse praising composers, such a ...
(In Bologna);
* The fresco under the last arch of the Annunziata portico (considered by Malvasia the first public work that Ambrogi performed without aid (In Bologna);
* All the frescoes in the chapel of St. Francis (In Bologna).
The works preserved in Bologna:
* Frescoes in the Paleotti palace (now the Student's House), first work in collaboration with Curti;
* The canvas with the Guardian Angel (in St. Giacomo, first chapel left);
* The large canvas with the Crowning of Mary (ceiling of the Oratory of St. Maria della Vita).
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrogi, Domenico
1600s births
17th-century deaths
16th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
17th-century Italian painters
Painters from Bologna
Italian Baroque painters
Quadratura painters
Italian decorators