Antonio Catalani (Romano)

Antonio Catalano or Catalani " l' antico, called" il Romano " (* 1560 in Messina, † 1630 ) was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance in Bologna, Malta and Sicily.

Life

He was probably a pupil of Deodato Guinaccia because he followed his da Caravaggio in his early work on Polidoro trained style of painting. Through patronage, he came to Rome in the studio of Federico Barocci (1535-1612), whose painting henceforth stylistically influenced him. His next stop was Bologna, where he worked for a time under the much younger Francesco Albani ( 1578-1660 ). Together with the Albani - pupil Girolamo Bonini he created in the Palazzo Pubblico of Bologna frescoes and independently several altarpieces for the S. Caterina di Saragossa and the S. Andrea delle Scuole.

About Malta Catalano returned to Messina, where he executed paintings for churches, so he painted for the Convento del Cappuccini in Gesso birth of Christ.

His son was the painter Antonio Catalano il Giovane (* 1585 in Messina, † 1666 ibid ), from which the painting Sta. Ursula is the holy virgins in the Museo Regionale di Messina.