Giuseppe Cesari (14 February 1568 – 3 July 1640) was an Italian

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, also named Il Giuseppino and called ''Cavaliere d'Arpino'', because he was created ''Cavaliere di Cristo'' by his patron

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

. He was much patronized 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 ...

by both Clement and

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

. He was the chief of the studio in which

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

trained upon the younger painter's arrival in Rome.

Biography

Cavalier d'Arpino - Christ Taken Prisoner - WGA04690

Cesari's father, Muzio Cesari, had been a native of

Arpino Arpino (Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the R ...

, but Giuseppe himself was born in Rome. Here, he was apprenticed to Niccolò Pomarancio. Cesari is stigmatized by

Luigi Lanzi Luigi Lanzi (14 June 1732 – 30 March 1810) was an Italian art historian and archaeologist. When he died he was buried in the church of the Santa Croce at Florence by the side of Michelangelo. Biography Born in Treia, Lanzi was educated as ...

, as not less the corrupter of taste in painting than Marino was in poetry. (Lanzi disdained the style of post-Michelangelo

Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

as a time of decline.) Cesari's first major work, done in his twenties, was the painting of the right counterfacade of

San Lorenzo in Damaso The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporated ...

, completed from 1588 to 1589. On 28 June 1589, he received the commission for the murals of the choir vault in the

Certosa di San Martino The ("Charterhouse of St. Martin") is a former monastery complex, now a museum, in Naples, southern Italy. Along with Castel Sant'Elmo that stands beside it, this is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill that command ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. From 1591 he was again in Rome, where he painted the vault in the

Contarelli Chapel The Contarelli Chapel or Cappella Contarelli is located within the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. It is famous for housing three paintings on the theme of Saint Matthew the Evangelist by the Baroque master Caravaggio. The paintings wer ...

within the church of

San Luigi dei Francesi The Church of St. Louis of the French ( it, San Luigi dei Francesi, french: Saint Louis des Français, la, S. Ludovici Francorum de Urbe) is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, ...

. He also completed murals in the Cappella Olgiati in Santa Prassede, and the vault of the Sacristy in the Certosa di San Martino. He was a man of touchy and irascible character, and rose from penury to the height of opulence. His brother

Bernardino Cesari Bernardino Cesari (1571 – 30 June 1622) was an Italian painter of the late-Mannerist and early Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and Naples, where he assisted his brother Giuseppe Cesari (Cavaliere d'Arpino). On 9 November 1592, he was sent ...

assisted in many of his works. Cesari became a member of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

in 1585. In 1607, he was briefly jailed by the new papal administration. He died in 1640, at the age of seventy-two, or perhaps of eighty, at Rome. His only direct followers were his sons Muzio (1619–1676) and Bernardino (d. 1703).

Pier Francesco Mola Pier Francesco Mola, called Il Ticinese (9 February 1612 – 13 May 1666) was an Italian painter of the High Baroque, mainly active around Rome. Biography Mola was born at Coldrerio (now in Ticino, Switzerland).''Ecstasy in the Wilderness: Pier ...

(1612–1666) apprenticed in his studio. Other pupils include

Francesco Allegrini da Gubbio Francesco Allegrini da Gubbio (1587–1663) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. His children, Flaminio and Angelica Allegrini, were also painters. Angelica painted a canvas for the church of San Francesco, Gubbio. Biography Born in Gu ...

Guido Ubaldo Abatini Guido Ubaldo Abbatini (1600–1656) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and Usigni. Biography Guido Ubaldo Abbatini was a pupil of the painter Giuseppe Cesari and of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and later worked und ...

Vincenzo Manenti Vincenzo Manenti (also known as Vincenzio Manenti) (c. 1600–1674) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born, worked and died in Canemorto (now Orvinio) in the region of Sabina and province of Rieti where he had been first a pu ...

, and

Bernardino Parasole Bernardino Parasole (c. 17th century) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born to the painters Isabella and Leonardo Parasole, but then apprenticed with Giuseppe Cesari Giuseppe Cesari (14 February 1568 – 3 July 1640) was a ...

. His most notable and perhaps surprising pupil was

. In c. 1593–94, Caravaggio held a job at Cesari's studio as a painter of flowers and fruit.

Selected works

*Cappella Olgiati in

Santa Prassede The Basilica of Saint Praxedes ( la, Basilica Sanctae Praxedis, it, Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilic ...

(1592) *Frescoes in Salon of the

Palazzo dei Conservatori The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

(now Capitoline Museum, 1595-56) **''Battle between Horatii and Curiatii

**''Finding of the She-wolf

**''Rape of the Sabine Women

**''Numa Pompilius Instituting the Cult of the Vestals

*Cappella Paolina in the church of

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

(1609) *''immaculate Conception'',

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

, Madrid. *

Prado Museum The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

, Madrid **''The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John'' **''The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine'' Inmaculada Concepción (Arpino)

References

Bibliography

*Gash, J. (1996). ''Caravaggio'', in Turner, J. (ed). ''The Dictionary of Art''. London: Macmillan * *

External links

Biography
at arte-argomenti.org *
''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Giuseppe Cesari (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesari, Giuseppe 1560s births 1640 deaths Painters from Rome 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Mannerist painters Catholic painters