Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari) (1 September 15292 September 1566) was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school.

Biography

Zuccaro was born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccaro, an almost unknown painter. His brother Federico, born around 1540, was also a painter and architect. As a young man Taddeo was to be encouraged by Pompeo da Fano.Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti
Second volume, by Giorgio Vasari, curated by F Ranalli, in Florence, 1848, page 1315. Zuccaro moved to

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 age 14, and he succeeded at an early age in gaining a knowledge of

painting 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 ...

and in finding patrons to employ him. When he was seventeen a pupil of

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 ...

, named Daniele da Parma, engaged him to assist in painting a series of frescoes in a chapel at Vitto near Sora, on the borders of the Abruzzi (not corroborated by Freedberg). Zuccaro returned to Rome in 1548, and began his career as a fresco painter, by executing a series of scenes in monochrome from the life of

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

on the front of the palace of a wealthy Roman named Jacopo Mattei. From that time his success was assured, and he was largely employed by the popes Julius III and

Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

, by the della Rovere duke of Urbino, and by other rich patrons. He is documented to have worked alongside Prospero Fontana in decorating the

Villa Giulia The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection of Etruscan art and artifacts. ...

. In 1556, he painted frescoed ''Scenes of the Passion'' in the "Cappella Mattei" of Santa Maria della Consolazione. His best frescoes were a historical series in '' quadro riportato'' painted on the walls and ceiling of Villa Farnese at

Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts. The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which ...

, built for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, for which Zuccaro also designed a great quantity of rich decorations in stucco relief after the style of

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-cent ...

and other pupils of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

. He also painted ''Histories of Alexander'' in the Castello Orsini at Bracciano. Nearly all his paintings were large, rapidly executed frescos, often in chiaroscuro or monochrome. Stylistically, he also displays a Mannerist taste for sculpted physicality characteristic of Michelangelo.

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, Sculp ...

praised his compositional skill and the refined fluidity and vigour of his style, singling out his treatment of heads, hands and nudes. Zuccaro's easel pictures are less common than his decorative frescoes. A small painting on copper of the ''Adoration of the Shepherds'', formerly in the collection of James II, is now at Hampton Court Palace. The Caprarola frescoes were engraved and published by Prenner, ''Illustri Fatti Farnesiani Coloriti nel Real Palazzo di Caprarola'' (Rome, 1748–50). He painted ''Conversion of St. Paul'' in

San Marcello al Corso San Marcello al Corso, a church in Rome, Italy, is a titular church whose cardinal-protector normally holds the (intermediary) rank of cardinal-priest. The church, dedicated to Pope Marcellus I (d. AD 309), is located just inset from Via de ...

in Rome. He died in Rome in 1566, and was buried in the Pantheon, not far from Raphael. Tomb of Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro

References

External links

The Zuccaro ScholarshipGetty Museum Exhibition Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist Brothers in Rome
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuccari Taddeo 1529 births 1566 deaths People from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Mannerist painters Sibling artists