Cavalier Giovanni Lanfranco | |
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 Self-portrait, 1628–1632,Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio | |
| Born | 26 January 1582 |
| Died | 30 November 1647(1647-11-30) (aged 65) |
| Education | |
| Known for | Painting |
| Notable work | |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Spouse | |
| Signature | |
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Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647)[1] was anItalian Baroque painter. He was a distinguished artist of theBolognese school, deeply influenced byAnnibale Carracci’s classicism.
Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born inParma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the household of Count Orazio Scotti. His talent for drawing allowed him to begin an apprenticeship with the Bolognese artistAgostino Carracci, brother ofAnnibale Carracci, working alongside fellow ParmeseSisto Badalocchio in the local Farnese palaces. Lanfranco's first work, aMadonna and Saints in the church ofSant'Agostino, Piacenza, executed during his apprenticeship under Agostino, is lost.[2]
When Agostino died in 1602, both young artists moved to Annibale's large and prominent Roman workshop, which was then involved in working on the Galleria Farnese in thePalazzo Farnese gallery ceiling.[3] Lanfranco is considered to have contributed to the panel ofPolyphemus and Galatea (replica in Doria Gallery) and some minor works in the room.
Afterwards, while still technically a member of the Carracci studio of Carracci, Lanfranco, along withGuido Reni andFrancesco Albani, frescoed the Herrera (San Diego) Chapel inSan Giacomo degli Spagnoli (1602–1607). He also participated in the fresco decoration ofSan Gregorio Magno and of theCappella Paolina inSanta Maria Maggiore.
By 1605, Lanfranco was obtaining some independent commissions; for example, he contributed paintings to the Camerino degli Eremiti in thePalazzetto Farnese (also known as Casino della Morte), once a low building on the Via Giulia, adjacent to the church ofSanta Maria dell’Orazione e Morte. The camerino had been constructed byCardinal Odoardo Farnese, next to his palace and gardens, and was destroyed in 1734 to allow for the construction of the aforementioned church. Of the canvases and frescoes byDomenichino,Scipione Pulzone,Paul Bril, and Lanfranco, some are conserved in the new church. Among other works, Lanfranco contributed to this series, were theTranslation of the Magdalen.[4]
After the death of Annibale Carracci in 1609, and with the Emilian school of painting temporarily out of favor, Lanfranco returned to his nativeDuchy of Parma and Piacenza for two years.There, he metBartolomeo Schedoni and painted the altarpiece for theOgnissanti church.[5] The large number of ecclesiastical commissions that he received inPiacenza suggest a stay of about two years. In that town he stayed with the benefactor of his youth, Count Orazio Scotti, for whom he painted severalcabinet pictures.
It is not clear why Lanfranco suddenly received so many demands for paintings for churches; his reputation may have been enhanced by his having worked with Annibale in Rome. His firstaltarpiece, theArchangel Raphael and Satan (1610; Naples, Museo di Capodimonte), forSanti Nazzaro e Celso, remains close to Annibale Carracci, while the altarpiece with St. Luke (1611; Piacenza, Coll. Notarile), painted for the Cappella di San Luca in Santa Maria delle Grazie at Piacenza, is the work in which Lanfranco was most strongly influenced by Ludovico Carracci. The fresco in this chapel’s small cupola (destr. 1810) was Lanfranco’s first work of this kind. The altarpiece of theMadonna of Reggio, Venerated by St. Francis and St. Rusticus (Naples,Museo di Capodimonte), for Sant'Andrea, may also have been painted in 1611; the influence of Annibale remains, but the movements of the figures and the folds of the drapery are more pronounced and more strongly articulated. A fourth altarpiece, theSalvation of a Soul (c. 1612; Naples, Museo di Capodimonte) for San Lorenzo in Piacenza, is stylistically the most Emilian of the altarpieces; in its use of colour, in the light-filled, diaphanous garments, in the clouds and in the flesh tones, it is strongly influenced by Schedoni and indirectly byCorreggio. Here Lanfranco is furthest from the Roman style of Annibale. Lanfranco also produced paintings and altarpieces inOrvieto,Vallerano,Leonessa andFermo.
After his return to Rome by 1612, Lanfranco competed with other Carracci students and assistants – including Reni, Albani, and Domenichino – for Roman patronage. Reni, however, was soon to depart for Naples and then Bologna. During the following decades in Rome, through the 1620s, Lanfranco and Domenichino engaged in a rivalry for the main fresco commissions. A measure of the competition can be gauged from Lanfranco's public accusation, not wholly without merit, that Domenichino hadplagiarized Agostino Carracci in his painting of theConfession of St. Jerome, now in theVatican.
Unlike Domenichino, Lanfranco was fairly eclectic in terms of style but preferred a visionary, theatrical approach suitable for the ceiling paintings gaining currency in the early 17th century. His works suggest some influence from the late work ofLudovico Carracci, a cousin of Agostino and Annibale, and possibly from Caravaggio – as, for example, in the altarpiece depicting theInspiration of Saint Luke atPiacenza (1611) – though the stylistic importance of Caravaggio to Lanfranco has been disputed. In other works, he assimilated and adapted the style of his compatriot and predecessor of the 16th century,Antonio Correggio, as in hisAdoration of the Shepherds painted before 1608 for the Marchese Clemente Sannesi and his brother the CardinalJacopo.[citation needed]
Lanfranco's studio became quite active, painting frescoes in thePalazzo Mattei and decorating the Buongiovanni Chapel inSant'Agostino (1616), which includes a CorreggesqueAssumption, along with easel paintings. HisAnnunciation (1615) in San Carlo ai Catinari in regarded as one of his best works. Soon, Lanfranco became the pre-eminent painter of the circle ofPope Paul V. He painted frescoes for thePalazzo Costaguti and a large ceiling fresco inquadratura at theVilla Borghese,The Gods of Olympus or also calledCouncil of the Gods.
In the following year, Lanfranco together withAgostino Tassi andCarlo Saraceni decorated theSala de' Corazzieri andSala Regia of thePalazzo del Quirinale. His formalPresentation at the Temple has the sunlit Carraci-like style. In 1622, he painted theEctasy of Saint Margaret of Cortona (Galleria Platina,Palazzo Pitti, Florence) as an altarpiece for Santa Maria Nuova inCortona, where Margaret lived and died.[6] The painting could well have inspired the pose inBernini's famousSt Theresa in ecstasy. In 1623–1624, he decorated the Sacchetti Chapel inSan Giovanni dei Fiorentini[7] in Rome. While Paul V's successor,Gregory XV, preferred works byGuercino and Domenichino, Lanfranco won commissions for the Crucifix Chapel inSanta Maria in Vallicella. Lanfranco's crowning masterpiece, however, and one of the major church fresco decoration of the late 1620s, was hisAssumption of the Virgin frescoed on the dome ofSant'Andrea della Valle.[3] Completed in 1627 insotto in su perspective, the crowded array of figures is a landmark in Baroque painting with bright golden coloration and energy. Lanfranco was influenced by Correggio's pioneering decoration of theDuomo di Parma.
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Urban VIII commissioned him a large fresco portrayingSt. Peter Walking on Waters (1628, now fragmentary), for which Lanfranco gained the title of Knight of theSupreme Order of Christ. In 1631, Lanfranco was named Prince (Principe) of theAcademy of Saint Luke, the artist's guild in Rome. There is also a fresco by Giovanni Lanfranco above the monument ofPope Clement VIII inSanta Maria Maggiore in (Rome).
From 1634 to 1646, Lanfranco began decorating the dome and pendentives of theJesuit church of the Gesù Nuovo inNaples in 1634–1637. In 1637–1638, he frescoed the nave and choir of theCertosa of San Martino. This was followed by the decoration ofSanti Apostoli in 1638–1646 and the dome of the Cappella of San Gennaro in theCathedral of Naples.[3] These works would invigorate the efforts of the grand manner Napolitan painters of the second half of the 17th century:Preti,Giordano andSolimena.[8] He died in Rome in 1647, where his last work was apse ofSan Carlo ai Catinari. Lanfranco was buried inSanta Maria in Trastevere.[9]
Lanfranco was a versatile and eclectic trainee of the Carracci, and continued their tradition with dramatic flair compared to the often restrained Domenichino, who mimicked mainly Annibale's grand manner. Lanfranco explored new styles, bridged traditions, painted in bothmannerist and baroque styles, using atenebrist and the colorist palette. Lanfranco's best known pupils includeGiacinto Brandi andFrançois Perrier.[10]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Williamson, G. C. (1910). "Giovanni Lanfranco". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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