Orazio Gentileschi | |
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.jpg) Portrait of Orazio Gentileschi (c. 1630) byLucas Emil Vorsterman, for "The Iconography" | |
| Born | Orazio Lomi (1563-07-09)9 July 1563 (baptized) |
| Died | 7 February 1639(1639-02-07) (aged 75) London, England |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Mannerism |
| Spouse | Prudenzia di Ottaviano Montoni (died 1605) |
| Children | 6, includingArtemisia andFrancesco |
| Relatives |
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Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (Italian pronunciation:[oˈrattsjoˈlɔːmidʒentiˈleski]; 1563 – 7 February 1639) was anItalian painter. Born inTuscany, he began his career inRome, painting in aMannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other artists.
After 1600, he came under the influence of the more naturalistic style ofCaravaggio. He received important commissions inFabriano andGenoa before moving toParis to the court ofMarie de' Medici. He spent the last part of his life at the court ofCharles I of England and died inLondon. He was the father of the painterArtemisia Gentileschi.
Gentileschi was born in Tuscany, the son of aFlorentine goldsmith called Giovanni Battista Lomi, and baptised atPisa on 9 July 1563. He later took the name Gentileschi from an uncle with whom he lived after moving to Rome[1]: p.6 in either 1576 or 1578.[2] His two older brothersBaccio andAurelio Lomi were also painters.
Much of Gentileschi's early work in Rome was collaborative in nature.[2] He painted the figures forAgostino Tassi's landscapes in thePalazzo Rospigliosi, and possibly in the great hall of theQuirinal Palace, although some authorities ascribe the figures there toGiovanni Lanfranco.[3] He also worked in the churches ofSanta Maria Maggiore,San Nicola in Carcere,Santa Maria della Pace, andSan Giovanni in Laterano.
From around 1600, Gentileschi's style was transformed by his contact with Caravaggio[1]: p.8 —several years his junior—who was then in Rome. In late August 1603,Giovanni Baglione filed a suit forlibel against Caravaggio, Gentileschi,Ottavio Leoni, and Filipo Trisegni in connection with some unflattering poems circulated amongst the artistic community of Rome over the preceding summer. Caravaggio's testimony during the trial as recorded in court documents is one of the few insights into his thoughts about the subject of art and his contemporaries.[4] After Caravaggio's flight from Rome, Gentileschi developed a more personal Tuscan lyricism, characterized by lighter colours and precision in detail, reminiscent of hisMannerist beginnings.
In 1611, Gentileschi collaborated with Tassi again, on works including the decorations of theCasino delle Muse. However, their association ended due to a dispute over money.[2] In 1612 he was again called to the Tribunal of Rome, this time to speak against Tassi, who was charged with the rape of his daughterArtemisia Gentileschi.
Details of Gentileschi's studio practice during this period have been preserved in the records of Tassi's trial. Following Caravaggio's lead, he often painted directly from models.[1]: p.10 One of the witnesses at the trial, Giovanni Molli, a 73-year-old pilgrim from Palermo, said that he had posed for several pictures around 1610–11, including a full-lengthSt Jerome.[1]: p.94 Gentileschi also made studies from life for later use: he seems to have based the head of Abraham in theSacrifice of Isaac, painted in the early 1620s, on studies of Molli's head made more than ten years before.[1]: p.6
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Between around 1613 and 1619 he did much of his work for patrons in the Roman Marches, in the cities ofAncona andFabriano.
In 1621, Gentileschi moved toGenoa, at the invitation ofGiovanni Antonio Sauli, who had previously commissioned works from his brother, Aurelio Lomi. Gentileschi's works for Sauli included aMagdalene, aDanäe andLot and his Daughters. He found other patrons in the city, includingMarcantonio Doria, for whom he carried out an elaborate scheme of frescoes of Old Testament subjects in a "casino" (since destroyed) in the grounds of his palace atSampierdarena.[1]: p.167
In the summer or autumn of 1624, Gentileschi left Genoa forParis, and the court of the Queen Mother,Marie de' Medici. He stayed for two years, but only one picture from his time there has been identified, an allegorical figure ofPublic Felicity, painted for thePalais du Luxembourg, and now in the collection of theLouvre.[1]: p.203
In 1626, Gentileschi, accompanied by his three sons,[1]: p.226 left France for England, where he became part of the household of the King's first minister,George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.[1]: p.224 He was to remain in England for the rest of his life. One of his first major works there was a large ceiling painting (since destroyed) of Apollo and the Muses for Buckingham's newly rebuilt London home, York House, in theStrand.[1]: p.225 He had already received a certain degree of royal patronage by the time of Buckingham's murder in April 1628, and all his commissions after this event came from the royal family.[1]: p.223
He was a favourite artist of QueenHenrietta Maria, for whom he carried out the ceiling paintings atQueen's House,Greenwich (later transferred toMarlborough House, London).[1]: p.228 The paintings of his English period are more elegant, artificial and restrained than his previous works. They include two versions ofThe Finding of Moses, (1633) one of which was sent to Philip IV of Spain; previously assumed to have been a gift from Charles I, it is now known to have been sent on Gentileschi's own initiative.[5]
In Englandvan Dyck made a drawing of Gentileschi for inclusion in hisIconographia, a series of portraits of the leading artists, statesmen, collectors and scholars of the time, which he intended to publish as a set of engravings.[6]
Gentileschi died in London on 7 February 1639, and was buried in the Queen's Chapel atSomerset House.[1]: p.228
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gentileschi, Artemisia and Orazio de's.v. Orazio".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 602.
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