Giovanni Battista Crespi

Giovanni Battista Crespi (* December 23, 1573 in Cerano (Novara), † October 23, 1632 in Milan ), called Il Cerano, was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect of the late mannerism and a leading artist of his time.

Life

Crespi was the son of the painter Raffaele Crespi and was usually called after his birthplace il Cerano in Milan. He studied in Rome and Venice in art and architecture and sculpture and was practiced in the beautiful literature and in knightly arts well. Therefore, he played a significant role at the Court of Milan.

At first he lived in Venice, and then from 1591 in Milan. He was a pupil of Camillo Procaccini and is considered one of the leading artists of his time. It derived from about 1620, the painting school of the Accademia Ambrosiana in Milan, founded by Federico Borromeo and was in the service of the Milan Archbishop and Cardinal Charles Borromeo. This he has also in the painting Madonna of Victory (see image below left) painted.

Crespi's painting is always free, witty, but sometimes mannered. His works often deal with religious themes and give a taste of the beginning of the Counter-Reformation. A very special talent he possessed in lifelike representation of animals, which he often anbrachte in cabinet pieces. Among his pupils were Daniele Crespi and Carlo Francesco Nuvolone. He died in 1632 in Milan.

Works

(Selection)

  • Our Lady of Victories, 1581, Parish Church of St. Dionysius Neckarsulm
  • St. Francis heals a leper (Oval), 1600, wood, 41 × 26 cm
  • Baptism of Christ, 1601, canvas, 203 × 255 cm, Frankfurt am Main, Städel
  • Scenes from the life of St. Charles Borromeo, 1602-03, canvas, 480 × 600 cm, Milan, Duomo
  • St. Francis frees a prisoner (Oval), 1600, wood, 41 × 26 cm, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
  • Baptism of St. Augustine, 1618, canvas, 470 × 720 cm, Milan, S. Marco
  • St. Francis prays at a crucifix, 1618, canvas, 73 × 79 cm, Milan, Museo Civico d' Arte Antica, Castello Sforzesco
  • Christ Appearing to the Apostles Peter and Paul, to 1626/1628, canvas, 274x184 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Paintings Gallery
  • Messa di San Gregorio per l' indulgenza delle anime del Purgatorio, Varese, San Vittore
  • Entombment of Christ, o.J.

Literature Note

  • GA DELL'ACQUA in " Storia di Milano " X, Milan 1957, pp. 726 ff
  • G. TESTORI Piedmontese in the catalog of the exhibition " Manierismo e lombardo del '600 ", Turin 1955, pp. 41 ff
  • N. Pevsner, " The paintings of Giovanni Battista Crespi called Cerano " in the " Yearbook of the Prussian Art Collections « XLVI, Berlin 1925, pp. 259 f
  • A. Ottino Della Chiesa
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