Vittorio Bigari
Vittorio Maria Bigari (* 1692 in Bologna, † 1776 ) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque.
Life
Vittorio Bigari was the son of the painter Giacomo Bigari. He proved his artistic skills as a plasterer and decorator in his hometown of Bologna, before he turned to as a pupil of Antonio Dardani painting. His earliest works from this period include the altarpiece of the church of San Nicolò in Carpi in 1720 and the paintings of the church of Sant'Agostino in Rimini, whose baroque decorations he made in 1722 together with Ferdinando Bibienas. During this time he made for the renovated palace of the Bishop Pompeo Aldrovandi in Bologna a decorative cycle with mythological scenes in the staircase and the corridors. In the years 1724 and 1725 originated with the frescoes of the Palace Manfredi in Faenza and the iconographic design of the decoration for the gallery of the palace Ranuzzi in Bologna, with scenes by Pier Jacopo Martello, art of self-expression and an independent artistic sensibility. This successful decorations bestowed on him large orders for other palaces in Bologna, in particular 1744-1748 once again for the palace of Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi. In the same building as twenty years earlier, he painted the large gallery with glorious events and pictures of important personalities of the family, in addition to episodes of Roman history in grisaille technique in the gallery of statues. His appointment to the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna ( Accademia Clementina ) made him known far beyond the borders of Emilia. In the religious sphere Vittorio Bigari painted in Bologna 1733/1734 frescoes in the nave of the Basilica of San Domenico with depictions of events from the history of the Church and of the Dominican Order. He also painted for the church of the Madonna del Soccorso and carried out the decoration of the dome of the Church of the Madonna della Guardia. In 1738 he offered his services to the House of Savoy, and took over at the Palazzo Reale in Turin decorating the home of Queen Elizabeth Therese. 1748 Bigari created for the frescoes in the rooms of the Villa Albergati in Zola Predosa at Bologna the "Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne ."
Of his three sons, Francesco, James and Angelo was the first architect, the other two suggested a career as a painter.
Works of Vittorio Bigari with secular and religious themes are represented in museums in Italy and abroad. Frescoes adorn his hand in Bologna and the surrounding towns numerous churches and palaces.
Works (selection)
Painting:
- Convito di Baldassarre ( Feast of King Belshazzar ) partially also The Feast of Absalom - Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
- Salomone incensa gli Idoli ( Salomon burn incense before the idols ) - Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
- An architectural capriccio with elegant figures in a portico " ( sale January 26, 2011 at Christie's for $ 25,000 )
Drawings:
- Tiber with Romulus and Remus, who are nourished by the wolf ( red chalk ) - Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
- Soldiers in front of a Monument ( spring ) - Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
- River god with nymphs (pencil / pen ) - Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
- Portrait of Cardinal Lambertini ( Sepia / spring ) - Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice
- Capriccio ( charcoal / chalk) - Disegni e Stampe Gabinetto degli Uffizi, Florence
- Assumption (chalk / pen ) - National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Standing Apollo (chalk / pen ) - Herzog Anton Ulrich- Museum, Braunschweig
- An Angel ' (selling July 4th, 2000 at Christie's for £ 5288 / € 8432 )
- Madonna, a bishop and a religious saint in worshiping pose " ( sale May 21, 2005 at Lempertz )
- Le pape Innocent IV consacrant l' église de Saint Dominique à Bologne " ( sale December 19, 2006 at Artcurial )
- Dieux et fleuves nymphes " ( sale April 1, 2011 at Christie's for € 3,250 )
Gallery of his haunts (selection)
Sant'Agostino in Rimini
Palazzo Aldrovandi Montanari in Bologna
Palazzo Manfredi in Faenza
San Domenico in Bologna
Madonna della Guardia in Bologna
Palazzo Reale in Turin
Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna