Luigi Pellegrini Scaramuccia (1616–1680) was an Italian painter and artist biographer of the

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 ...

period. He was a pupil, along with

Giovanni Domenico Cerrini Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609–1681), also called ''Gian Domenico Cerrini'' or ''il Cavalier Perugino'', was a painter of the Baroque period, born in Perugia and active mainly in Rome and influenced in large part by painters of the Bolognese ...

of the painter

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

. Born in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

to the painter Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia, he left paintings throughout the peninsula, including

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 ...

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

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He is more highly regarded as a biographer or historian than the former. His book ''Le finezze de' pennelli italiani'' was one of the earliest compilations of biographies that included baroque artists from Bologna and Milan (published in 1674 in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

). Written as a pseudonymous account of travels through Italy, he appears to plagiarize extensively from prior biographers, including Raphaël Trichet du Fresne in his introduction to

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

’s treatise in 1651. In painting, he worked under

Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of Guido Reni and Guercino, as well ...

and alongside

Lorenzo Pasinelli Lorenzo Pasinelli (September 4, 1629 – March 4, 1700) was an Italian painter active mainly in Bologna during the late Baroque period. He was born in Bologna, and initially trained in the studio of Simone Cantarini. He then pursued studies in R ...

, Girolamo Bonini, and Giovanni Maria Galli-Bibiena, in the fresco decoration of the ‘’Sala Farnese’’ in the

Palazzo d'Accursio 260px, Palazzo d'Accursio. Palazzo d'Accursio (or Palazzo Comunale) is a palace once formulated to house major administrative offices of the city of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the Piazza Maggiore, and is the city's T ...

(now City Hall) in

. He also painted in 1670 a canvas of ''Federico Borromeo Visits the Leper House During the Plague of 1630'' for the Ambrosiana Library in Milan; this was part of a large project promoted by Antonio Busca to decorate the Accademia

Ambrosiana The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agen ...

with works honoring the founder,

Federico Borromeo Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy. Early life Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borro ...

. The works recall the large Quadroni of St. Charles painted about the life of Carlo Borromeo for the

Duomo of Milan Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

. Other painters in this project were

Ambrogio Besozzi Ambrogio Besozzi or ''Giovanni Ambrogio Besozzi'' (1648–1706) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Life He was born in Milan in 1648 where his first training was with Gioseffo Danedi, ''il Montalto''. He assisted Ciro Ferri in Rome wit ...

Cesare Fiore Cesare, the Italian version of the given name Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–1912), It ...

Andrea Lanzani Andrea Lanzani (c.1645 – 30 May 1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Milan in 1641, Lanzani initially apprenticed in the workshop of Luigi Scaramuccia, where he met Andrea Pozzo, a marked influence on hi ...

, and Antonio Busca himself. The

Brera Gallery The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

has a portrait of Scaramucci painted by his friend,

Francesco Cairo Francesco Cairo (26 September 1607 – 27 July 1665), also known as Francesco del Cairo, was an Italian Baroque painter active in Lombardy and Piedmont. Biography He was born and died in Milan. It is not known where he obtained his early train ...

. One of his pupils was

Andrea Lanzano Andrea Lanzano (1651 in Milan – 1709) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque period. He was initially trained in Milan under Luigi Scaramuccia, then traveled to Rome to work under Carlo Maratta. He became a follower of Giovanni Lanfranco. He ...

of San Colombano.Lodi monografia storico-artistica
by Felice De Angeli, Andrea Timolati, published in Milan (1877), page 133.

References

* * Geddo, Cristina, ''Luigi Scaramuccia: Biografia''; ''Luigi Scaramuccia: Cristo flagellato, Cannobio, Santuario della Pietà'', in ''Pittura tra il Verbano e il Lago d'Orta dal Medioevo al Settecento'', ed. M. Gregori, Milano, Cariplo, 1996, pp. 295–297, plate 91 (https://unige.academia.edu/CristinaGeddo, ''ad vocem'', with updated abstract).

Notes

1616 births 1680 deaths People from Perugia Italian art historians 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters {{Italy-art-historian-stub