Tommaso Laureti

Tommaso Laureti, often called Tommaso Laureti Siciliano (c. 1530 — 22 September 1602), [G. Baglione, " _it. Le vite dei pittore" (Rome) 1642:] was a Italian painter from Sicily who trained in the atelier of the aged Sebastiano del Piombo and worked in Bologna and, from 1582, for papal patrons in Rome in a Michelangelo-inspired style with special skill in illusionistic perspective that in his Roman work avoided all but traces of Mannerism (Freedberg 1993:654).

Laureti was born in Palermo. After his master's death in 1547, he settled in Bologna, introducing to the city illusionistic perspective paintings on ceilings, notably an "Alexander the Great" ceiling with a feigned architectural setting in Palazzo Vizzani. [An engraved detail is dated 1562, according to Ebria Feinblatt, "Contributions to Girolamo Curti" "The Burlington Magazine" 117 No. 867 (June 1975, pp. 342+344-353) p. 349.] He painted a "Transportation of the body of Saint Augustine" for San Giacomo Maggiore. The Mannerist structural elements of the marble and bronze "Fountain of Neptune" in Bologna, which is surmounted by Giambologna's "Neptune", completed in 1566, were based on a 1563 drawing by Laureti. This commission from Pope Pius IV is undoubtedly Laureti's most familiar public work ("illustration, left below").

In the Church of Santa Susanna, Rome, Laureti's painting of the "Death of Saint Susanna" is above the high altar. His frescoes in the "Sala dei Capitani" in Michelangelo's "Palazzo dei Conservatori" on the Campidoglio painted in 1587-94 depicted inspiring episodes from Roman history: "The Justice of Brutus", "Horatius Cocles defending the Pons Sublicius", "Victory at Lake Regillus", "Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsena".

In the Vatican he was commissioned by Gregory XIII to execute a series of frescoes on a post-Council of Trent triumphalist theme, "The Triumph of the Christian religion" on the new vaulted ceiling of the "Sala di Costantino" ("Hall of Constantine"), where the walls had been frescoed by the school of Raphael early the century. The ceiling was completed under the pontificate of Sixtus V, whose armorial bearings were introduced into the frieze. The rigorous illusionistic perspectives represent a lifetime fascination with the art of perspective: Laureti's "instrument" demonstrating the basic principles of linear perspective

thumb|Laureti_perspective_engraved_for_Vignola's "Due regole...", 1583

Laureti's illusionistic "sotto in su" perspective design for a portion of an illusionistic ceiling was engraved for Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola's, "Le due regole della prospettiva pratica.", 1583 ("illustration, right"). [An example was included in the Getty Museum exhibition "The Geometry of Seeing", 2002.]

In the Basilica di San Prospero, Reggio Emilia, his altarpiece of the Assumption was completed by Ludovico Carracci in 1602.

Laureti was the second "principe" of the Accademia di San Luca, succeeding Federico Zuccari in 1595. His commemorative portrtait by Orazio Borgianni, dated 1603, is in the Accademia di San Luca, Rome. [Harold E. Wethey, "Orazio Borgianni in Italy and in Spain" "The Burlington Magazine" 106 No. 733 (April 1964, pp. 146-159), pp 148f, 152, fig. 6, 154.]

ources

* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/I/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/Titi/1763*/Professori/T.html Filippo Titi, " _it. Descrizione delle Pitture, Sculture e Architetture esposte in Roma", 1763]
* [http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/geometry/ (Getty Museum) "the Geometry of Seeing"] 2002
* [http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/SDRs/SDRs_01_05_007.html Laueti and the Sala di Costantino]
* [http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi148.htm Roberto Piperno, " _it. Chiesa di Santa Susanna"] G. Vasi's description, 1761.
*cite book | first= Sydney J.| last= Freedberg| year=1993| title= Painting in Italy, 1500-1600| chapter= | editor= Pelican History of Art| others= | pages= p654-55 | publisher= Penguin Books Ltd | id= | url= | authorlink=

Notes