Tommaso Laureti, often called Tommaso Laureti Siciliano (c. 1530 — 22 September 1602), was an Italian painter from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

who trained in the atelier of the aged

Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; c. 1485 – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerism, Mannerist periods famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian School (art), Venetian ...

and worked in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. From 1582, he worked for papal patrons in Rome in a Michelangelo-inspired style with special skill in illusionistic perspective, that in his Roman work avoided all but traces of

Mannerism 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 Italy, ...

Biography

Laureti was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Sicily. After his first master's death in 1547, he settled in Bologna, introducing illusionistic perspective paintings on ceilings to the city, notably an ''Alexander the Great'' ceiling with a painted architectural setting in Palazzo Vizzani. He painted a ''Transportation of the Body of Saint Augustine'' for the church of

San Giacomo Maggiore The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, f ...

in Bologna. The

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 Italy, ...

structural elements of the marble and bronze ''Fountain of Neptune'' in Bologna, which is surmounted by

Giambologna Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small ...

's ''Neptune'', completed in 1566, were based on a 1563 drawing by Laureti. This commission from

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

is undoubtedly Laureti's most familiar public work (''illustration, left below''). In the church of

Santa Susanna The Church of Saint Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian ( it, Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano) is a Roman Catholic parish church located on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, Italy. There has been a titular church associated to its site ...

in Rome, Laureti's ''Death of Saint Susanna'' the main altarpiece in the church. His frescoes in the ''Sala dei Capitani'' in

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

's ''Palazzo dei Conservatori'' on the

Campidoglio The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...

, painted in 1587-94, depict episodes from Ancient Roman republic: ''The Justice of

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

''; ''

Horatius Cocles Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the early Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Etruscan King Lars Porsena of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Cl ...

defending the Pons Sublicius''; '' Victory at Lake Regillus''; and ''

Mucius Scaevola The gens Mucia was an ancient and noble patrician house at ancient Rome. The gens is first mentioned at the earliest period of the Republic, but in later times the family was known primarily by its plebeian branches. Origin The first of the Mucii ...

before Lars Porsena''. In 1582, the administration of Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Laureti to execute a series of frescoes on a post-

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

triumphalist theme, ''The Triumph of the Christian religion'' on the newly vaulted ceiling of the ''Sala di Costantino'' or Hall of Constantine, where the walls had been frescoed by the school 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. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

earlier in the century. The central theme is surrounded by allegorical female figures representing the Italian provinces. The ceiling was completed under the pontificate of

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

, who had grown discontent with the dilatory performance of Laureti. The rigorous illusionistic perspectives represent the painter's constant fascination with the art of perspective.

Baglione Giovanni Baglione (1566 – 30 December 1643) was an Italian Mannerism, Late Mannerist and Baroque, Early Baroque painter and art historian. He is best remembered for his acrimonious and damaging involvement with the slightly younger arti ...

in his biographies of artists states Laureti was assisted by the painter

Antonio Scalvati Antonio Scalvati (1559–1619)Other sources cite 1557-1622. was an Italian painter, mainly active in Rome. He was known for his portraits. Biography Born in Bologna, Scalvati began as assistant for Tomasso Laureti, and then moved to Rome ...

. Laureti's perspective design for a portion of an illusionistic ceiling, seen as ''

di sotto in su Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...

'' or 'from below to above', was engraved for

Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola ( , , ; 1 October 15077 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Churc ...

's, ''Le due regole della prospettiva pratica.'', 1583 (''illustration, right''). For the Basilica of

San Prospero San Prospero ( Carpigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) ...

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

, he painted an altarpiece depicting the ''Assumption''; this painting was completed by

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light th ...

in 1602. Laureti was the second ''principe'' or director of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

or the artists' academy in Rome, succeeding

Federico Zuccari Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad. Biography Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino (Marche). His docum ...

in 1595. His commemorative portrait (dated 1603) by

Orazio Borgianni Orazio Borgianni (6 April 1574 – 14 January 1616) was an Italian painter and etcher of the Mannerist and early- Baroque periods. He was the stepbrother of the sculptor and architect Giulio Lasso. Borgianni was born in Rome, where he was doc ...

is still on display in the Accademia di San Luca.Harold E. Wethey, "Orazio Borgianni in Italy and in Spain" ''The Burlington Magazine'' 106 No. 733 (April 1964, pp. 146-159), pp 148f, 152, fig. 6, 154.

Sources

Filippo Titi, ', 1763(Getty Museum) "the Geometry of Seeing"
2002

G. Vasi's description, 1761. *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laureti, Tommaso 1530s births 1602 deaths Painters from Palermo 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Mannerist painters Catholic painters