Gherardi, Cristofano - Transfiguration - 1555

Cristofano or Cristoforo Gherardi, also known as il Doceno, (November 25, 1508 – April 1556) was an Italian painter of the late-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

period, active mainly in

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

and

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Biography

He was born in

Borgo San Sepolcro Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany. Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town ...

and also called ''il Doceno dal Borgo''. He was the pupil of the painter

Raffaellino del Colle Raffaellino del Colle (1490–1566) was an Italian Mannerist painter active mostly in Umbria. He was born in the frazione of Colle in Borgo Sansepolcro, province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. Biography He is also called ''Raffaellino della Colle'' ...

, in whose shop he encountered

Rosso Fiorentino Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...

and

Giorgio 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 ...

. He painted under Vasari's direction, the one assistant of Vasari's whom Freedberg singles out. In 1536 Vasari invited him to Florence to assist in producing the decorations for the ceremonial entry of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

into Florence. The following year, in the reaction after Duke Alessandro's death, Gherardi was among those banished from Florence, so his work for Vasari was confined to projects outside Florence, until his banishment was lifted in 1554 and he was permitted to return. In the long interval he had painted the ''Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth'' for the church of San Domenico, Città di Castello; church decorations in San Sepolcro; and works for the Vitelli, who were long-term patrons. Gherardi, in the two years left to him, assisted Vasari in the ''Quartiere degli Elementi'' in Palazzo Vecchio. Vasari's main assistant after Gherardi's demise was Jan van der Straat, called Giovanni Stradano.

Selected works

*''Hall of Ceres'', Palazzo Vecchio in Florence *''Allegory of Human Redemption'',

Villa Albani The Villa Albani (later Villa Albani-Torlonia) is a villa in Rome, built on the Via Salaria for Cardinal Alessandro Albani. It was built between 1747 and 1767 by the architect Carlo Marchionni in a project heavily influenced by otherssuch as G ...

, Rome *''Visit of Mary to Elizabeth'' (1541–1545) Museum of Augustins de Toulouse *''Helen surrenders to Paris'' *''Assumption of the Virgin'' *''Laborers in a landscape: Allegory of November'' *''Holy family with St. John the Baptist & St. Anne'' *''Holy family with St. Anne and St. Jean'' *''Allegory of October'' *''Old testament sacrifices'', Cortona

References

* 1508 births 1556 deaths People from Sansepolcro 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Tuscany Italian Mannerist painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub