Giovanni Luigi Valesio, also known as ''Giovanni Valesio'' or ''Luigi Valesio'', (c. 1583–1633) was an Italian painter and, most prominently, an engraver of the early-

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 ...

, active in his native city of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= 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 150 different nat ...

, and then in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Biography

Malvasia claims he was the son of a Spanish soldier initially stationed in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

. He frequented the studio of

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light th ...

. After 1621, during the papacy of

Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623. Biography Early life Al ...

, Valesio relocated to Rome under the patronage of Lavinia Albergati, the wife of

Orazio Ludovisi Orazio Ludovisi (1561–1624) was an Italian nobleman, military commander and patrician of Bologna. During his brother's reign as Pope Gregory XV, he became Commander of the Papal Armies and Duke of Fiano and Zagarolo. Early life Ludovisi was bor ...

, the pope's brother. He helped

Ulisse Aldrovandi Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history st ...

in the preparation of some of his volumes of natural history. He was aided by a pupil,

Giovanni Battista Coriolano Giovanni Battista Coriolano (1590–1649) was an Italian engraver of the Baroque period. He was almost certainly the son of the German transplant to Italy, the engraver Cristoforo Coriolano. Giovanni Battista was born and died in Bologna. He studi ...

. He also engraved the funeral services in Bologna performed for the Ludovisi pope. Another pupil was Oliviero Gatti of Piacenza.Catalogo di una raccolta di stampe antiche
Volume 2, by Marchese Luigi Malaspina di Sannazaro, page 257. Valesio died in his mid-forties according to Malvasia. Among his works in Bologna are a ''Scourging of Christ'' for the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, an ''Annunciation'' for the Mendicants; church, and ''St. Roch curing the Plague-stricken'' for the oratory of St. Roch (San Rocco). At Rome he painted a ''Religion'' for the monastery attached to Santa Maria sopra Minerva. He etched several plates from his own designs, and after other masters, as well as a variety of plates for books. In these he approached the style of

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or Caracci) (16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of ...

. Among other prints by him of ''St. Michael vanquishing the Angels'' after

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...

References

''Venus whipping Cupid with Roses, interrupted by satyr''
* * 1580s births 1633 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Bologna Italian engravers Baroque engravers {{Italy-engraver-stub