Carlo Cignani (; 15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

and Guercino, as well as those of

Simone Cantarini Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called ''il Pesarese'' (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian painter and etcher. He is mainly known for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original style, which ...

. This gentle manner marked a break with the more energetic style of earlier Bolognese classicism of the

Bolognese School The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the ''School of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives i ...

of painting.

Life

He was born to a family of noble ancestry, but limited resources, in Bologna. His father's first name was Pompeo, and his mother, Maddalena Quaini. Madonna and Child (Boston Public Library)

Madonna and Child (Boston Public Library)

In Bologna, he studied first under

Battista Cairo Battista is a given name and surname which means Baptist in Italian. Given named * Battista Agnese (died 1564), cartographer from the Republic of Genoa, who worked in the Venetian Republic * Battista Dossi, also known as Battista de Luteri, I ...

and later under Francesco Albani, to whom he remained closely allied, and was his most famous disciple. His first noted commission was a ''St Paul exorcising demon'' for the church of the Gesu in Bologna. For a hall dedicated to the Farnese in the Palazzo Publico, he painted with Taruffi, depicting the ''Francis, king of France, curing Scrofula on his entry to Bologna'' and the ''Entry of Paul III Farnese to Bologna. He was also strongly influenced by the genius of Correggio and by the masterworks by Melozzo da Forlì. For instance, his masterpiece, the ''Assumption of the Virgin'', around the cupola of the church of the Madonna del Fuoco at Forlì, is inspired by the Correggio's frescoes in the cupola of the Cathedral of Parma and by the Melozzo's perspective from down to up. These frescoes occupied Cignani for some twenty years. In 1681 Cignani returned to Bologna from Parma. He opened an ''accademia del nudo'' for painting from models and had as one of his pupils Giuseppe Maria Crespi. He had some of the defects of his masters: his elaborate finish and his audacious artificiality in the use of color and in composition mark Albani's influence. Despite that, he imparted to his work more of an intellectual character than his mentors. As a man Cignani was eminently amiable, unassuming and generous. Marcello Malpighi by Carlo Cignani

He accepted no honors offered him by the

duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

, but lived and died an artist. In 1686 he moved to Forlì, where he died. When the

Accademia Clementina The Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna ("academy of fine arts of Bologna") is a public tertiary academy of fine art in Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. It has a campus in Cesena. Giorgio Morandi taught engraving at the Accademia f ...

for Bolognese artists was founded in 1706, Cignani was posthumously elected ''Principe in absencia'' for life. His most famous pictures, in addition to the ''Assumption'' already cited, are the ''Entry of Paul III into Bologna''; the ''Francis I Touching for Kings Evil''; a ''Power of Love'', painted under a fine ceiling by

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or Caracci) (16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of ...

, on the walls of a room in the ducal palace at Parma; an ''Adam and Eve'' (at The Hague); and two of ''Joseph and Potiphars Wife ''(at Dresden and Copenhagen). His son

Felice Cignani Felice Cignani (January 27, 1660 – January 12, 1724) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Forlì and Bologna. He was a pupil and son of the painter Carlo Cignani. Felice helped train his cousin, Paolo Cignani (1709–1 ...

(1660–1724) and nephew Paolo Cignani (1709–1764) were also painters. His most noted pupils were Marcantonio Franceschini and

Federico Bencovich upright 1.2, ''Saint Andrew among the Saints Batholomew, Carlo Borromeo, Lucy and Apollonia'', ca. 1710–1716 Federico Bencovich (1667 – 8 July 1753) was a late Baroque painter from Dalmatia working in Italy. He is best known as ''Federico Ben ...

. Other pupils include Giacomo Boni, Andrea and

Francesco Bondi Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

;

Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi (1653–1725) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born in Bologna. He was the pupil of the painter Giovanni Maria Viani, but followed the style of Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 Septembe ...

;

Girolamo Domini Girolamo Donnini (18 April 1681 – 1743) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, born in the town of Correggio, Emilia-Romagna. He was a pupil of the painters Francesco Stringa in Modena, and then of Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole in Bologna, ...

;

Pietro Donzelli Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Can ...

; Francesco Galli;

Bonaventura Lamberti Bonaventura Lamberti (c. 1653 – 19 September 1721) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He was born at Carpi, and after some years working at Modena, he became a pupil of the painter Carlo Cignani in Rome. There, h ...

; Giovanni Battista Loreti;

Matteo Zamboni Matteo Zamboni (active early 18th century) was an Italian painter, active in Emilia-Romagna. He was the pupil of Carlo Cignani. Biography This Matteo Zamboni died young, and was active circa 1710, and is best known for two altarpieces from the ...

;

Camilla Lauteri Camilla may refer to: People * Camilla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), wife of King Charles III Places * Camilla, Georgia, a city in the United States * Camilla Castle, an alternat ...

;

Stefano Maria Legnani Stefano Maria Legnani also known as "Legnanino" (Milan, 6 April 1661 – Milan, 4 May 1713) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque period, active mainly in Milan.Giovanni Battista Loreti; Charles Lucy (1692 - after 1767), Francesco Mancini;

Paolo Antonio Paderna Paolo Antonio Paderna (1649–1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Bologna, he was a pupil of the painter Guercino, then of Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovat ...

., and

Sante Vandi Sante Vandi (1653–1716) was an Italian portrait painter of the Baroque period. He was a pupil of Carlo Cignani. He is also known as ''Santino da' Ritratti''. In early life he painted at Bologna, but was afterwards employed at Mantua Mantua ...

.Dizionario degli architetti, scultori, pittori, intagliatori d'ogni By Stefano Ticozzi, page 449, 1832

Selected works

*''Penitent Magdalen'', Dulwich Picture Gallerybr>
*'' Commons:Image:Carlo_Cignani_001.jpg, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'' (c. 1680), Oil on canvas, 99 x 99 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden *''Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'', Musee Fesch, Ajacci

*''Charity'' Oil on canvas, 119.4 x 161.3 cm, San Francisco Museum of Art

* ''I piaceri della vita in campagna'

*''Judgement of Paris'' (1691), Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 161 cm

*''Aurora'',

Circolo della Scranna Circle is a type of administrative division of some countries. In Thailand the former ''monthon'' are translated as circle. The former Holy Roman Empire was organized into Imperial Circles (German: Reichskreise). Algerian daïras are circles. See ...

, Forlìbr>
*''Incoronazione di Santa Rosa'' (''Coronation of Saint Rose of Lima''), Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica *''Self-portrait'', Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica * With

, ''La Vergine e San Filippo Neri'' (''The Virgin and Saint Philip Neri''), Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica.

Gallery

File:Château de Chantilly, Carlo Cignani, Madonna and Child.JPG, ''Madonna and Child'', circa 1680 File:Moïse sauvé des eaux Nancy 3018.jpg, ''The Finding of Moses,'' Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy File:Carlo Cignani - Saint Augustine - M.Ob.1102 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Saint Augustine'' File:San Giovannino e l'agnello - Carlo Cignani.jpg, ''Saint John and the Lamb'' File:Cignani, Carlo - The Penitent Magdalen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Penitent Magdalen'', circa 1685–90

References

External links

* * * * , and engraving by

William Ensom William Ensom (1796–1832), was an English engraver. Career Ensom, in 1815 gained a silver prize medal from the Society of Arts for a pen-and-ink portrait of William Blake, poet and painter. He is best known by some small and neatly finished e ...

for The Easter Gift, 1832, with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon {{DEFAULTSORT:Cignani, Carlo 1628 births 1719 deaths Painters from Bologna 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian male artists