Italian Early Renaissance Painter, 1445-1510
Italian painter and draughtsman. In his lifetime he was one of the most esteemed painters in Italy, enjoying the patronage of the leading families of Florence, in particular the Medici and their banking clients. He was summoned to take part in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, was highly commended by diplomatic agents to Ludovico Sforza in Milan and Isabella d Este in Mantua and also received enthusiastic praise from the famous mathematician Luca Pacioli and the humanist poet Ugolino Verino. By the time of his death, however, Botticelli s reputation was already waning. He was overshadowed first by the advent of what Vasari called the maniera devota, a new style by Perugino, Francesco Francia and the young Raphael, whose new and humanly affective sentiment, infused atmospheric effects and sweet colourism took Italy by storm; he was then eclipsed with the establishment immediately afterwards of the High Renaissance style, which Vasari called the modern manner, in the paintings of Michelangelo and the mature works of Raphael in the Vatican. From that time his name virtually disappeared until the reassessment of his reputation that gathered momentum in the 1890s Related Paintings of Sandro Botticelli :. | The Birth of Venus | St Barnabas Altarpiece | The Story of Lucretia | Punishment of the Rebels | Benozzo Gozzoli, (mk36) | Related Artists:
Karl BlechenGerman Romantic, 1798-1840
sometimes given as Karl Blechen, was a German painter, specializing in fantastic landscapes, sometimes with demons and grotesque figures. Born in Cottbus, he drew the attention of prominent architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who cast him as a decorative painter. Blechen however aimed for higher work and began producing landscape paintings. In 1827 he went to Italy
Luca Giordano1632-1705
Italian
Luca Giordano Gallery
Charles II of Spain towards 1687 invited him over to Madrid, where he remained for 10 years (1692-1702). In Spain, he produced works for the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Buen Retiro palace, El Escorial, Toledo, and other sites. Giordano was popular at the Spanish court, and the king granted him title as a "caballero". One anecdote of Giordano's speed at painting is that, he was once asked by the Queen of Spain what his wife looked like. On the spot, he painted his wife into the picture before him for the Queen.
In Spain he executed numerous works, continuing in the Escorial the series commenced by Cambiasi, and painting frescoes of the Triumphs of the Church, the Genealogy and Life of the Madonna, the stories of Moses, Gideon, David and the Celebrated Women of Scripture, all works of large dimensions. His Dream of Solomon (1693, now at Prado) dates from this period. His pupils, Aniello Rossi and Matteo Pacelli, assisted him in Spain. In Madrid he worked more in oil-colour, a Nativity there being one of his best productions.
Paolo Antonio Barbieri(1603-1649) was an Italian painter who was the brother of Guercino. He was born at Cento, a village near Bologna. The subjects of his pictures are flowers, fruit, and game, but he particularly excelled in painting fish