Cecco Bravo (15 November 1601 – 1661) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Baroque school. His true name is Francesco Montelatici.

Biography

He trained with Giovanni Biliverti and was also close to Sigismondo Coccapani. In the early 1620s he worked in the studio of

Matteo Rosselli Matteo Rosselli (10 August 1578 – 18 January 1650) was an Italian painter of the late Florentine Counter- Mannerism and early Baroque. He is best known however for his highly populated grand-manner historical paintings. Biography He first app ...

. By 1629, he had his own independent studio. His first recorded work is a fresco of the ''Virgin, St John & Angels'' (c. 1628/9;

San Marco, Florence San Marco is a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the pa ...

) and a painting of ''Charity'' ( Annunziata of Florence). In 1633, he painted six lunettes with scenes from the ''Life of the Blessed Bonaventura Bonaccorsi'' for the church of Santissima Annunziata in Pistoia, continuing a series begun in 1601 by Bernardino Poccetti. He painted a frieze depicting children’s Games and stories from Orlando Furioso (c. 1631) for Villa Corsini a Mezzomonte in

Impruneta Impruneta is a town and '' comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000. Name and production The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and ...

. He was commissioned to decorate the library in the

Casa Buonarroti Casa Buonarroti is a museum in Florence, Italy. The building was a property owned by the sculptor Michelangelo, which he left to his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti. The house was converted into a museum dedicated to the artist by his great nephew, Mi ...

of Florence. After his depiction of ''Fame'' on the ceiling of the library, he became disenchanted with the patron’s excessive instructions, and the panels of illustrious Florentines on the walls were completed by others, including

Domenico Puligo Domenico Puligo (1492–1527) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active in Florence. His real name was ''Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini''. He trained under Ridolfo Ghirlandaio and acted as an assistant to Andrea del Sarto, whom he als ...

and

(1636). He was commissioned to complete work initiated by

Giovanni da San Giovanni Giovanni da San Giovanni (20 March 1592 – 9 December 1636), also known as Giovanni Mannozzi, was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period, active in Florence. Biography Born in San Giovanni Valdarno, he trained under Matteo Rosselli. ...

(who died after starting) for the ''Sala degli Argenti'' in

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

, in a commission shared with

Ottavio Vannini Ottavio Vannini (September 15, 1585 – c. 1643) was an Italian artist of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence. Biography Born in Florence to Michele Vannini. He initially apprenticed for four years with a mediocre painter by t ...

and

Francesco Furini Francesco Furini (c. 1600 (or 1603) – August 19, 1646) was an Italian Baroque painter of Florence, noted for his sensual sfumato style in paintings of both secular and religious subjects. Biography He was born in Florence to an artistic ...

. The frescoes, intended to celebrate

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

, were commissioned in 1635 by

Ferdinando II de' Medici Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was remembered by his contemporaries as a man of culture a ...

prior to his marriage to the daughter of the Duke of Urbino. In the south wall, Bravo completed ''Lorenzo as messenger of peace''. Bravo was part of a team that frescoed ''quadri riportati'' on the walls of the '' Oratorio dei Vanchetoni''. The oratory also contains frescoes by San Giovanni,

Pietro Liberi Pietro (Libertino) Liberi (1605 – 18 October 1687) was an Italian painter of the Baroque era, active mainly in Venice and the Veneto. Biography Liberi was born in Padua, his earliest training was with Alessandro Varotari (''il Padovanino''). ...

and Baldassare Franceschini (il Volterrano). A canvas by Bravo of the ''Aurora'', a theme also depicted earlier by Guido Reni, is at the

Palazzo Montecitorio The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament. History The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mon ...

. In 1659, Cecco was recommended by the Cardinal

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 ...

for a position as a court painter to Anna, wife of the archduke of Ferdinand Karl of the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. He accepted and spent the last two years of his life in Innsbruck. One of his patrons was Filippo Baldinucci, but Bravo was not included in his biographies of Florentine artists.

Howard Hibbard Benjamin Howard Hibbard, Jr. (May 23, 1928 – October 29, 1984) was an American art historian and educator. Hibbard was Professor of Italian Baroque Art at Columbia University. Career A native of Madison, Hibbard was born to Margaret and Benja ...

contrasted the murky sensuality of the paintings of Pignoni, Furini and Bravo with the piety of Carlo Dolci. Bravo is one of the few Florentines to violate the crisp drawn edges of figures, and aim for a general bravura of execution, nearly becoming a ''pintore del tocco''. Some attribute this to influences he encountered in Venice, for example

Bernardo Strozzi Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included history, allegorical, genre and portrait paintin ...

. Cecco Bravo influenced

Felice Ficherelli Felice Ficherelli (30 August 1605 – 5 March 1660) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, born in San Gimignano and active mainly in Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1 ...

(il Riposo).

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, Cecco 1601 births 1661 deaths 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Florence Italian Baroque painters