Lelio Orsi (1508/1511 – 1587), also known as Lelio da Novellara, was a

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 and architect of the

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

school in northern Italy. He was born and died in

Novellara Novellara ( Reggiano: or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy and has a population of 13,670. It is north of Reggio Emilia and has a railway station for the local train going from Reggio to Guastalla. ...

, and much of his work was completed in Reggio. He appears to have studied under such as Giovanni Giarola, a pupil of

Antonio da Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

. There is documentary evidence that he visited Rome in 1554–55, and may have been influenced by

Girolamo Bedoli Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (c. 1500–1569) was an Italian painter active in the Mannerist style. Biography Bedoli was born in Parma in a family coming from Viadana in Lombardy. He was a near contemporary of Parmigianino, and after the early death ...

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

and the prototypic mannerists

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-centu ...

as well as

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

and his successor

Daniele da Volterra Daniele Ricciarelli (; 15094 April 1566), better known as Daniele da Volterra (, ), was a Mannerist Italian painter and sculptor. He is best remembered for his association with the late Michelangelo. Several of Daniele's most important works ...

. He is said to have trained

Raffaellino da Reggio Raffaele Motta (1550 – 1578), known as Raffaellino da Reggio, was an Italian Mannerist style painter from Reggio Emilia, who mainly worked in Rome. He assimilated the style of Taddeo Zuccari and also developed more personal traits. In the las ...

. Other pupils or followers were Giovanni Bianchi, known as il Bertone Reggiano, and Jacopo Borbone of Novellara.G. Tiraboschi, page 126. He was active in both exterior and interior decoration, and much of his work is in small cabinet pieces, not large altarpieces. Much of his output ended in the collections of the Dukes of Este in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

. __NOTOC__ Orsi’s style draws upon the ethereal simplicity of Correggio, but also incorporates the contorted poses, perspective distortions, and crowded settings characteristic of Mannerism. At times, the cumulative effect is unsettling. While the angels above unsheathing divine swords are meant to carry the day in ''The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine'' it appears that the execution was stymied by breakdown within the complex set of depicted gears.

Selected attributions

*''The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine'' (1560) -

Galleria Estense The Galleria Estense is an art gallery in the heart of Modena, centred around the collection of the d’Este family: rulers of Modena, Ferrara and Reggio from 1289 to 1796. Located on the top floor of the ''Palazzo dei Musei'', on the St. Augusti ...

, Modena *''The Dead Christ Flanked by Charity and Justice'' *''Madonna della Ghiara'' (1569) *''Saints Cecilia & Valerian'' -

Galleria Borghese The Galleria Borghese () is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate tourist ...

, Rome *''Noli Me Tangere'' -

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

, Hartford *''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' (1565–70) - Gemäldegalerie, Berlin *''The Walk to Emmaus'' (1565) -

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, London *''St. George and the Dragon'' (1550) -

Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...

, Naples *''St Michael subduing Satan and weighing the Souls of the Dead'' (1540s) -

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

, Oxford *''Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane ''(1545) - Strossmayer Gallery, Zagreb

References

* * *

External links

Lelio Orsi
at

ArtCyclopedia Artcyclopedia is an online database of museum-quality fine art founded by Canadian John Malyon. Information The Artcyclopedia only deals with art that can be viewed online, and indexes 2,300 art sites (from museums and galleries), with links to a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsi, Lelio 1511 births 1587 deaths People from the Province of Reggio Emilia 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Mannerist painters