Giovanni Biliverti

Giovanni Biliverti (surname also Bilivelt, Bilivert or other variants ) ( born August 25, 1585 Florence, † July 16, 1644 in Florence) was an Italian painter with Dutch roots in Florence and Rome.

Life-history

Biliverti was the son of a goldsmith Jacob Janszoon Bijlevelt (1550-1603), who moved in the second half of the 16th century Siena. Here Giovanni also enjoyed his first artistic training in the workshop of Alessandro Casolani. After the death of his father in 1603 he went to Florence in the workshop of Ludovico Cigoli whose foremost disciple he became.

On the orders of Pope Clement VIII Cigoli was 1604, accompanied by his assistants Biliverti to Rome, where both artists met until 1607 papal orders.

Back in Florence, he joined in 1609 at the Accademia del Disegno. Over time, he changed his style from the Late Mannerism to the Baroque, to which he remained faithful until his incipient blindness by 1643. Between 1611-1621 Biliverti fulfilled numerous commissions for Cosimo II de ' Medici.

His pupils were Cecco Bravo, Giovanni Battista Vanni, Baccio del Bianco, Orazio and Agostino Melissi Fidani.

Works (selection)

• National Gallery (London ): "The Holy Zenobius brought a dead boy " (1610 /20)
• Chiesa di San Nicola (Pisa): " Annunciation" ( 1611)
• Palazzo Pitti (Florence): " Joseph and Potiphar's wife " ( 1618)
• Santa Croce (Florence) " The Discovery of the Holy Cross by Helena " ( 1621)
• Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna): "Allegory of gentleness " ( 1641), "Christ and the Samaritan Woman " ( 1620 )
• State Gallery Stuttgart: " Apollo and Daphne "
• Louvre (Paris): "Venus and Cupid"