Girolamo Curti (1575–1632) was an Italian painter 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 ...

, specializing in

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 ...

Biography

Girolamo Curti - felsinapittricev02malv 0 0168

He was also called ''il Dentone''. He was born to a poor family at

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 worked for cloth spinner till age 25. His first formal training was with the Cremonese painter

Cesare Baglioni Cesare Baglioni (c. 1525–1590, born in Bologna) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He trained under his father, then became renowned as a painter of quadratura. He painted in Parma and Rome , established_title = Foun ...

(no evident relation to

Giovanni Baglione Giovanni Baglione (1566 – 30 December 1643) was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He is best remembered for his acrimonious and damaging involvement with the slightly younger artist Caravaggio and ...

). He apparently quickly worked independently then rejoined his friend and fellow Bolognese and Baglione pupil,

Lionello Spada Leonello Spada (also called ''Lionello Spada'') (1576 – 17 May 1622) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome and his native city of Bologna, where he became known as one of the followers of Caravaggio. Biography He fi ...

. Together during the early 17th century, they began to collaborate in quadratura, with Curti painting the structures, while Spada painted the figures. They soon parted, with Spada becoming a canvas painter, and Curti was to travel to paint in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

(1618 and 1630), Rome (1623) and

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 ...

. He returned from Rome to Bologna, and there was assisted by

Michelangelo 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 ...

Agostino Mitelli Agostino Mitelli (16 March 1609 – 2 August 1660) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period and best known as a fresco painter of ''quadratura'' or illusionistic perspectival architectural frameworks. He was born in Battedizzo, near Bologna ...

, and

Andrea Seghizzi Andrea Seghizzi or Sghizzi (''fl.'' 17th century) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna. Seghizzi was born in Bologna around 1630. He initially trained with Francesco Albani and Lucio Massari, but then worked alo ...

, and painted architectural backgrounds for

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 vig ...

frescoes. Much of his work has been lost over the centuries. The main source of his biography is

Cesare Malvasia Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616–1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled ''Felsina pittrice'', published in 1678. Life and career Malvasia is the Bolognese equivalent ...

, whose father's villa at Trebbio was frescoed by Curti and assistants.

References

* *''Contributions to Girolamo Curti'', by Ebria Feinblatt. The Burlington Magazine (1975),117(86): pages 342+344-353. 1575 births 1632 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters Quadratura painters Painters from Bologna Fresco painters {{Italy-painter-17thC-stub