Alessandro Tiarini

Alessandro Tiarini (March 20 1577 - February 8, 1668) was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School.

He was born in Bologna. His mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by an aunt, and early on they tried, unsuccessfully to guide him towards becoming a cleric [Amorini p72] . He was the godson of painter Lavinia Fontana and initially apprenticed in Bologna under her father Prospero Fontana, and subsequently with Bartolomeo Cesi. He was not inducted into the Carracci Academy. Forced to flee from Bologna, due to what Malvasia and Amorini describe as a quarrel leading to the death of the other party. He moved to Florence, where he painted frescoes, façade decorations, and altarpieces (1599-1606) including an "Adoration of the Shepherds" (Pitti Palace). In Florence, he mainly worked under Domenico Passignano, but also Bernardino Poccetti and Jacopo da Empoli.

He was lured back to Bologna and Reggio Emilia, by Ludovico Carracci. His "Grieving over a dead Jesus" is in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna. His masterpiece in Bologna was a series of frescoes for the Brami Chapel in the sanctuary of Basilica della Ghiara. He also painted in Cremona (1623-24). In 1628, where he painted the "Story of Gerusalemme Liberata" for the Farnese Palazzo del Giardino in Parma. He also painted the "Raising of the cross" for the "Oratorio della Buona Morte" in Reggio, a work now presently displayed in the Galleria Estense of Modena.

He painted a "Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and St. John, weeping over the instruments of the Passion" for church of S. Benedetto; "St. Catherine kneeling before a Crucifix" for S. Maria Maddalena; a "Pietà" for S. Antonio; and "St. Dominic resurrecting a child" for the church dedicated to that saint. Tiarini died in Bologna. Other works in Bologna include a "Martyrdom of St. Barbara" for S Petronio, a "Nativity" for S. Saltatore, and a "Flight to Egypt" for S. Vitale.

His closest pupils were Francesco Carbone and Luca Barbieri.

References

*cite book | author= Francis P. Smyth and John P. O'Neill (Editors in Chief| year=1986| title= "The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the 16th and 17th Centuries"| chapter= | editor= National Gallery of Art, Washington DC| others= | pages= 538-542| publisher= | id= | url= | authorlink=
*cite book | author= Marchese Antonio Bolognini Amorini| year=1843| title= "Vite de Pittori ed Artifici Bolognesi"| chapter= | editor= | others= | pages= pages 72-93| publisher= Tipografia Governativa alla Volpe ed Nobili, Bologna | id= | url= http://books.google.com/books?id=-GABAAAAQAAJ&dq=pittori&as_brr=1 | authorlink=
*cite book| first=Michael| last=Bryan| year=1889| title="Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical" (Volume II L-Z)| editor = Walter Armstrong & Robert Edmund Graves| pages= page 570| publisher=George Bell and Sons|location=York St. #4, Covent Garden, London; Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18, 2007 |id= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=K2cCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Michael+Bryan+Painters+Engravers#PPP7,M1| authorlink=