Marco Liberi - Portrait of Pietro Liberi

Pietro (Libertino) Liberi (1605 – 18 October 1687) was an Italian painter 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 ...

era, active mainly in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and the Veneto.

Biography

Liberi was born in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, his earliest training was with

Alessandro Varotari Alessandro Leone Varotari (4 April 1588 – 20 July 1649), also commonly known as Il Padovanino, was an Italian painter of the late-Mannerist and early- Baroque Venetian school, best known for having mentored Pietro Liberi, Giulio Carpioni, and ...

(''il Padovanino''). He had an adventure-filled life. He traveled extensively in Italy. During a voyage to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, he was captured into bondage for 8 months by pirates from

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. Released through Malta, he visited Sicily, Naples, and Pisa. For a few years in his life, he became a mercenary with the forces of cavaliere Antonio Manfredini, who was fighting for the Duchy of Tuscany against the ''Saracens''. He fought to capture the Castle of Sichia, in present

İskenderun İskenderun ( ar, الإسكندرونة, el, Αλεξανδρέττα "Little Alexandria"), historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon, is a city in Hatay Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Names The city was founded as Ale ...

in Turkey. After the campaign, he returned to

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, and in 1637, traveled to Lisbon, visited Liguria, the Southern coast of France and Madrid. Back in Tuscany, he focused again on painting, travelling to Rome. There he was a roommate of the engraver

Stefano della Bella Stefano della Bella (17 May 1610 – 12 July 1664) was an Italian draughtsman and printmaker known for etchings of a great variety of subjects, including military and court scenes, landscapes, and lively genre scenes. He left 1052 prints, and sev ...

. In Rome, he painted a ''Rape of the Sabines'' for

Leopoldo de' Medici Leopoldo de' Medici (6 November 1617 – 10 November 1675) was an Italian cardinal, scholar, patron of the arts and Governor of Siena. He was the brother of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Biography Prince Leopoldo was born a ...

. He returned to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

to paint a ceiling in the Oratory of San Filippo Neri. He traveled to Venice in 1643, painting ''Evangelists'' for the church of the Ospedaletto. He also painted a large altarpiece (1650) for the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. He painted a ''St Anthony of Padua with Venice in prayer'' for the church of the

Salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

. In 1662, he was knighted by the Doge

Francesco Molino Francesco Molino (also known as François Molino) (4 June 1768 – 1847) was an Italian guitarist, violinist, and composer. Biography Molino was born in Ivrea near Turin. He often travelled to Spain to give concerts. He was orchestral conducto ...

. He was nicknamed ''il Libertino'' due to his frequent choice of salacious themes in cabinet pieces. He painted frescoes of the ''Battle of the Dardanelles'' for the

Doge's palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

; the ''Slaughter of the Innocents'' for the church of the Ognissanti in Venice; ''Noah leaving the Ark'' in the cathedral at

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

; and the ''Deluge'' at Santa Maria Maggiore at

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

. He is represented at for example

Kadriorg Palace Kadriorg Palace ( et, Kadrioru loss, german: Schloss Katharinental) is an 18th-century Petrine Baroque palace in Kadriorg, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Both the Estonian and the German name for the palace means "Catherine's valley". It was ...

, part of the

Art Museum of Estonia The Art Museum of Estonia ( et, Eesti Kunstimuuseum) was established in 1919. Originally based in Kadriorg Palace, the museum has expanded across several sites and today exhibits both international and local art works. At the end of the 1970s, in t ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. His masterpiece is likely the altarpiece of ''Sant' Elena finding the Cross'' for the church of San Moisè in Venice.

Marco Liberi Marco Liberi (c.1640 – after 1687) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was the son of the painter Pietro Liberi in Padua, and received his training under his father, whose style he imitated.Bryan p. 53. He was active in Padua and ...

, his son, was also a painter. Other pupils include

Giannantonio Lazzari Giannantonio is an Italian masculine blended given name that is a combination of Gianni and Antonio. Notable people known by this name include the following: Given name *Giannantonio Lecchi or Giovanni Antonio Lecchi (1702 - 1776), Italian Jesuit ...

. Biografia degli artistiby Filippo de Boni, page 542.

References

Pietro Liberi : cavaliere e fenice dei pittori author: Chiara Accornero Publisher Zel. Edizione, Treviso, Italy (2013)

External links

Artcyclopedia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberi, Pietro 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Venice Italian Baroque painters Painters from Padua 1605 births 1687 deaths Fresco painters