Fra’ Galgario (4 March 1655 – December 1743), born Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, and also called ''Fra’ Vittore del Galgario'', was an Italian painter, mainly active in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

as a portraitist during the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

or late-

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 t ...

period.

Biography

He was born in Bergamo to an artist father, Domenico Ghislandi. Initially he entered the studio of Giacomo Cotta, then Bartolomeo Bianchi, and finally the studio of

Sebastiano Bombelli Sebastiano Bombelli (October 1635; 4 May 1719) was an Italian painter, mainly active in Venice, during the Baroque period. Biography He was born in Udine on 14 or 15 October 1635 (baptized on the 15th), educated and trained under the guidance ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

of the 1690s. He also reported trained with the German portrait artist

Salomon Adler Salomon Adler (before 3 March 1630 – 1709 in Milan) was a German painter of the Baroque period, active in Milan and Bergamo as a portrait painter. He was the mentor of Fra' Galgario. Born in Danzig ( Gdańsk), died in Milan. Biograph ...

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 ...

. In 1702, he entered the religious life in the Order of the Minims of the

Monastery of Galgario A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, in Bergamo. He assumed the name of the saint for whom the monastery is named. He was elected a member of the Milanese

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 ...

in 1717. He is said to blend the attention to colorism and glamour that captivates Renaissance-Baroque portraiture of Venice, with the realism of Milanese art such as that of Moroni. Among his pupils were

Paolo Bonomino Paolo Maria Bonomino (1703 – post 1779) was an Italian painter, mainly active in Bergamo as a portraitist during the Rococo or late-Baroque period. Biography He was born in Bergamo, and trained under Fra Galgario Fra’ Galgario (4 March 1655 ...

Cesare Femi Cesare Femi (active mid-18th century) was an Italian painter, active in Northern Italy. Biography He appears to have been born in Norcia, to a father who worked as a lithotomist at a local hospital, and trained his son in the same career and as ...

, and Pietro Gualdi (18th century painter).The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Article: ''Fra Vittore Ghislandi'', by Selwyn Brinton, Volume 21, page 350-352
/ref>

Works

* ''Giovane con bicchiere di vino e natura morta con pane e cipolla'' * ''Giovane con turbante'' * ''Ragazzo col cappello piumato'' (L’Allegrezza)

Portraits

* Accademia Carrara, Bergamo **''Portrait of Francesco Maria Bruntino'' **''Portrait of Advocate Giacomo Battamni de'Bazni'' **''Portrait of G. Secco Suardo'' **''Portrait of Count Galeatius Secco Suardo'' (1681-1733) **''Portrait of the Gentleman of Finardi's House'' (1710) **''Gentlewoman'' (around 1710) *Luigi Koelliker collection: **''Portrait of Gian Domenico Tassi'' (between 1710–15) *''Portrait of Clara Benaglio Finardi'' (1710), private collection
''Giovanni Secco Suardo and Servant''
(1711) Giovanni Secco Suardo

*''Portrait of Count Giovan Battista Vailetti'' (1720), Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice Portrait of Count Giovan Battista Vailetti *''Portrait of a Young Girl'', National Museum of Fine Arts, Algiers *''Portrait of Count Andra Asperti With His Son'' *''Portrait of Count Bartolomeo Secco Suardo in Arms'' *''Portrait of Count Filippo Marenzi'' *''Portrait of Count Gerolamo Secco Suardo'' *''Portrait of Count Giovan Battista Vailetti'' *''Portrait of Dottor Bernardi'' *''Portrait of Marquess Giuseppe Maria Rota and Captain Antonio Brinzago da Lodi'' *''Portrait of Marshal Matthias von der Schulenburg'' *''Portrait of Sculptor

Andrea Fantoni Andrea Fantoni (1659–1734) was an Italian sculptor and woodcarver of the late- Baroque period, active in the region near Bergamo. He was born in Rovetta in 1659, and he died in Bergamo in 1734. He trained with his family of artisans as well ...

'' *''Portrait of the Advocate Giacomo Bettami de' Bazini'' *''Portrait of Bartolomeo Manganoni'' *''Portrait of Bertrama Daina de' Valsecchi'' *''Portrait of Carlo Tinti'' *''Portrait of Domenico Ghislandi'' *''Portrait of Elizabeth Piavana Ghidotti'' *''Portrait of Young Sculptor'', University of Arizona Art Museum, Tucson

Busts

*''Bust of Vitellio Imperatore'' *''Bust of a Poet Laureate''

References

*
short bio

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 Galgario (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Galgario, Fra 1655 births 1743 deaths Italian portrait painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Painters from Bergamo Italian Baroque painters Minims (religious order) 18th-century Italian male artists