Giulio Benso (30 October 1592 – 1668) was a

Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine ar ...

painter of the early Baroque. He is known as one of the followers of the style of Luca Cambiasi. Benso was born in

Pieve di Teco Pieve di Teco ( lij, Céve) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Pieve di Teco borders the following municipalities: Armo, A ...

. Initially under the patronage of Giovanni Carl Doria, he met

Giulio Cesare Procaccini Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574–1625) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the early Baroque era in Milan. Biography Born in Bologna he was son of the Mannerist painter Ercole Procaccini the Elder and brother of Camillo Procaccini and Car ...

and was encouraged to study in the Genovese ''Accademia del Nudo''. Afterwards, he was apprenticed to

Giovanni Battista Paggi Giovanni Battista Paggi (27 February 1554 – 12 March 1627) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and writer. His style spans the Late-Renaissance and early- Baroque. Life He was born in Genoa into the well-to-do family of his father Pellegrino. ...

. Apart from his work in

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, he decorated the Palazzo Grimaldi in Cagnes-sur-Mer with the ''Fall of Phaeton'' and sent works to the Abbey of Weingarten in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In the 1640s, he completed his masterpiece, a fresco in the presbytery and apse of the church of the

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is the Catholic cathedral of Genoa, northern Italy; its decoration employed the major baroque studios and artists in Genoa in the 17th century. It is named ''Vastato'' because the area where it ...

. There are also paintings of his in his hometown of Pieve di Teco as well as in the parish church of Sant'Ambrogio in Alassio.

Sources

* Venancio Belloni, ''Pittura genovese del Seicento. Dal Manierismo al Barocco'', EMMEBI, Genoa, 1969. * Ezia Gavazza, ''La grande decorazione a Genova'', Sagep, Genoa, 1974. *

Raffaele Soprani Raffaele Soprani (1612-1672) was an Italian aristocrat known mainly as an art historian for his volume of biographies of Genoese artists, published posthumously in 1674. Biography He was born to a senatorial family in Genoa, and himself served twi ...

''Le vite de pittori, scoltori, et architetti genovesi. E de' Forastieri, che in Genova operarono''
Bottaro e Tiboldi, Genova, 1674, pp. 268–272. 1592 births 1668 deaths People from the Province of Imperia 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Genoa Italian Baroque painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub