![Giacomo Legi - A lady selling fruit, including figs, lemons and grapes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Giacomo_Legi_-_A_lady_selling_fruit%2C_including_figs%2C_lemons_and_grapes.jpg)
Giacomo Legi (±1600, probably in
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
or
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial State, Imperial Estate, so the List of ...
, possibly in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, - between 1640 and 1645,
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 ...
) was a
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 ...
painter of
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
descent who was active principally in northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
during the first half of the 17th century. Here he was one of the leading painters of still lifes and market and pantry scenes.
Life
Little is known about Legi’s early life. His original name is not known with certainty. It is believed that his Italian name is derived from the French word Liège which may refer to the city Liège or the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (Liegi in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
), in present-day
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, where he may have been born.
[Raffaele Soprani e Giovanni Nicolò Cavana, ''Le Vite De Pittori Scultori, et Architetti Genovesi, e de' Forastieri, che in Genoua operarono Con alcuni Ritratti de gli stessi]'', per Giuseppe Bottaro, e Gio. Battista Tiboldi compagni, 1674.] Antwerp has also been suggested as a possible place of birth.
[Giacomo Legi]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
![Giacomo_Legi_-_Young_man_in_a_pantry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Giacomo_Legi_-_Young_man_in_a_pantry.jpg)
Legi moved to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
to work as an apprentice in the large workshop of
Jan Roos, a Flemish painter who had made a name for himself in Genoa and had married a local woman. Jan Roos specialized in
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s and market scenes and may have been Legi's brother-in-law. Genoa was at the time an attractive destination for artists since the competition between artists there was less intense than in the leading cultural centres Rome,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and
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 ...
, while Genoa was a thriving port city where a large number of potential customers and collectors lived. There was a large colony of Flemish artists who resided in or passed through the city and relied on the network of established Flemish artists and traders to find patrons and commissions.
[Anversa & Genova: een hoogtepunt in de barokschilderkunst]
Struck by an illness he moved for treatment 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 died some time between 1640 and 1645.
[
]
Work
Giacomo Legi was a master of the still life and of genre paintings
Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...
and worked in a style inspired by his teacher Jan Roos. Roos and Legi played an important role in the development of the still life in Italy towards more complex compositions in line with Baroque taste.[Giacomo Legi (Liège 1600 – 1640 Milan)]
''A market scene''] at Dorotheum Legi made a career out of the depiction of single fruit, vegetable, game or fish salesmen and women.
It is difficult to determine the chronology of Legi's oeuvre as none are dated. In his mature period his compositions became more elaborate and were characterized by an abundance of figures and details. Characteristic of his work are the rich brushstrokes, the vivid colors and the use of light, with clear chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
contrasts.[
During his stay in Genoa, he collaborated with the local painter ]Domenico Fiasella
Domenico Fiasella (12 August 1589 – 19 October 1669) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Genoa. He was nicknamed ''Il Sarzana'', after his birthplace.
Biography
He was born in c, the son of Giovanni Fiasella, a silver ...
. Legi's work was much admired and imitated by local painters in Genoa. Legi's ''A market scene'' was cited directly in a composition referred to as ''The Market'' (120 x 170 cm, Genoa private collection) executed by the young Domenico Piola
Domenico Piola (1627 – 8 April 1703) was a Genoese painter of the Baroque period. He was the leading artist in Genoa in the second half of the 17th century, working on ceiling frescoes for many Genoese churches and palaces and canvas paintin ...
with the collaboration of Stefano Camogli
Stefano Camogli, called 'Il Camoglino' (Genoa, c. 1610 - Genoa, 1690/1709) was a Baroque painter of still lifes, animals and market and pantry scenes. He also painted small history paintings. Stefano Camogli, ''Still life with monkey, basin and ...
, who had also trained in the Roos workshop.[
]
Selected works
* ''Market'', Oil on canvas, 150x186 cm, Galleria di Palazzo Bianco, Genoa
* ''Kitchen'', Oil on canvas, 150x186 cm, Palazzo Tursi, Genoa
* ''Pantry with live and dead animals with a young man'', Oil on canvas, 99x147 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux is the fine arts museum of the city of Bordeaux, France. The museum is housed in a dependency of the Palais Rohan in central Bordeaux. Its collections include paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15t ...
, Bordeaux
* ''Pantry with animals, hanging ham, pans and cook'', Oil on canvas, 112x142 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux is the fine arts museum of the city of Bordeaux, France. The museum is housed in a dependency of the Palais Rohan in central Bordeaux. Its collections include paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15t ...
, Bordeaux
* ''Pantry with animals, fruit, vegetables and a male character'', Oil on canvas, Private Collection, Genoa
* ''The Fortune Teller'', Oil on canvas, in collaboration with Domenico Fiasella, Albergo dei Poveri, Genoa
* ''Kitchen interior'', oil on canvas, private collection[''La letteratura ligure in genovese e nei dialetti locali'' Volume III.]
Notes
Further reading
*Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi
Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi (1660–1727) was an Italian writer and art historian, author of the ''Abecedario pittorico'' (‘ABC of Painting’).
Born in Bologna, Orlandi joined the city’s Carmelite convent of San Martino. Here he undertook res ...
, Pietro Guarienti
Pietro Guarienti (c. 1700–1765) was an Italian painter and art-biographer of the late- Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna.
He was born in Verona, then traveled to Bologna and Venice. He became the pupil of the painter Giuseppe Maria Cres ...
, ''Abecedario pittorico'', Venezia.
*Raffaele Soprani, Giovanni Nicolò Cavana, ''Le Vite De Pittori Scoltori, Et Architetti Genovesi, E de' Forastieri, che in Genoua operarono Con alcuni Ritratti de gli stessi'', Genova
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legi, Giacomo
Flemish Baroque painters
Flemish still life painters
1600s births
1640 deaths
17th-century painters from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Artists from Antwerp