Ventura Mazza or Mazzi or Marzi or Mazi or Magi (circa 1560 - March 6, 1638) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance.

Biography

He was born in Cantiano, then part of the Duchy of Urbino. He was a pupil of Federico Barocci. In the studio he both copied designs and worked as an agent for Barocci's large studio, assuring compliance with patron's wishes, delivering, or completing commissions sent outside of Umbria. In 1604 Mazza restored the stucco model of the statue of Federico da Montefeltro by

Girolamo Campagna Girolamo Campagna (1549–1625) was a Northern Italian sculptor. Born in Verona, he went to Venice in 1572 and studied under both Jacopo Sansovino and Danese Cattaneo, and completed many of the latter's works. He was responsible for the fig ...

(made using designs of Barocci) for the Ducal Palace of Urbino. He painted a ''St Homobonus'' (1620) for the sacristy of the

Duomo of Urbino Urbino Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Urbino, ''Cattedrale Metropolitana di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a Catholic cathedral in the city of Urbino, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since 1986 it has been the seat of the Arch ...

, now in the

National Gallery of Urbino The Ducal Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale) is a Renaissance building in the Italian city of Urbino in the Marche. One of the most important monuments in Italy, it is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. History The construction of the ...

. Future critics such as a Luigi Lanzi and Stefano Ticozzi. The latter noted that in this work while Mazza, unlike other Barocci pupils, freed himself from the style of his masters, he did so for a "poorer style". Much of his commissions were based on designs of Barocci, including an ''Annunciation'' for the

Cathedral of Cagli A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, or paintings by Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino for the church in Loreto, of copies of the ''Madonna della Gatta''. For the Duke above, he made copies of a Titian work. He also painted an Altarpiece of the ''Madonna della Cintura with Sts Dominci and Crescentiano'', now found in Pinacoteca di San Domenico, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fano. He lived in poverty by 1636, and died in Urbino in 1638.Encyclopedia Treccani.

References

1560s births 1638 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Umbrian painters Italian Renaissance painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub