Jacopo Ligozzi (1547–1627) was an Italian painter, illustrator, designer, and miniaturist. His art can be categorized as late-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and

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, ...

styles.

Biography

Born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, he was the son of the artist Giovanni Ermano Ligozzi, and part of a large family of painters and artisans. After a time in the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

court in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he displayed drawings of animal and botanical specimens, he was invited to come to Florence and became one of the court artists for the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

. Upon the death of

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

in 1574, he became head of the '' Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno'', the officially patronized guild of artists, which was often called to advise on diverse projects. He served Francesco I,

Ferdinando I Ferdinando may refer to: Politics * Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1549–1609) * Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1610–1670) * Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (1663–1713), eldest son of Cosimo ...

, Cosimo II and Ferdinando II, Grand Dukes of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. For the Medici, he adorned the Grotto of

Thetys Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as ...

in the Colossus of the Apennine. He was named director of the grand-ducal ''Galleria dei Lavori'', a workshop providing designs for artworks made mainly for export: embroidered textiles and for the newly popular medium of

pietre dure ''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is c ...

, mosaics of semiprecious stones and colored marbles. He painted

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

depicting episodes from the life of

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

for the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

of the Ognissanti. He also painted a canvas of ''St. Raymond resuscitating a Child'' for

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The chu ...

and ''Martyrdom of St. Dorothea'' for the church of the Conventuali at

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

. His

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

s depict crowds in staged positions, robbed of emotion; the paintings breathe an academic staleness that is typical of Florentine painting of the age. In his many pen-and-wash drawings featuring religious, mythological, or heraldic images, Ligozzi demonstrated a greater originality. He is known best for his depictions of

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

and

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

, which reflect the nascent scientific pursuits of the Medici. His botanically correct depictions of plants can even include exquisitely observed root systems. Among his accurate depictions of animals is ''A Marmot with a Branch of Plums'' (1605). Ligozzi was commissioned to create some of the depictions found in the encyclopedic visual catalogue of the plant collections of Bolognese

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 ...

(kept in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

). He can be described as the

Audubon The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such org ...

of late

Florence. He is also credited with bringing the lusher color-palette of Verona to Florence. Ligozzi was influential among some subsequent Florentines including Bartolomeo Bimbi. Among his pupils were Donato Mascagni, known as Frate Arsenio, and Mario Balassi. Ligozzi's nephew Bartolommeo Ligozzi was also a painter. In Florence, he worked on some projects with

Bernardino Poccetti Bernardino Poccetti (26 August 1548 – 10 October 1612), also known as Barbatelli, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker of etchings. Biography Born in Florence, he was initially trained as a decorator of facades and ceilings, enrol ...

. Both

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 ...

and Andrea Andreani engraved some of his works. He died in Florence.

Sources

*John Seabrook, "Annals of Agriculture: Renaissance Pears", ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', September 5, 2005, p. 105.
Getty Center Biography
*

References

External links

*
Uffizi Gallery site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligozzi, Jacopo Mannerist artists Botanical illustrators Italian painters of animals 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters 1547 births 1627 deaths Artists from Verona