- Francesco Cairo
Francesco Cairo (1607 - 1665) was an Italian painter active in
Baroque Lombardy and Piedmont.He was born and died in
Milan . It is not known where he obtained his early training though he is strongly influenced by the circle of il Morazzone, in works such as the "Saint Teresa" altarpiece in theCertosa di Pavia .In 1633, Cairo moved to
Turin to work as a court painter, including portraits, toVittorio Amedeo I of theHouse of Savoy . Between 1637-1638, Cairo travelled toRome , where he encounters the works ofPietro da Cortona ,Guido Reni and of theCaravaggisti . He returns to Lombardy to complete altarpieces for the Certosa of Pavia and a church atCasalpusterlengo . He painted a "St. Theresa" for San Carlo inVenice . Between 1646-1649, he returns to Turin, and paints an altarpiece forSavigliano and the church of San Salvario. He is also known as "Il Cavalière del Cairo", because in Turin, he received the order of SS. Lazarus and Maurice in recognition of his merit.Many of his works are eccentric depictions of religious ecstasies; the saints appear liquefied and contorted by piety. He often caps them with exuberant, oriental turbans. He is sometimes compared with his Milanese contemporary,
Carlo Francesco Nuvolone , also called "il Panfilo".Ludovico Antonio David andPietro Scalvini were among his pupils.References
*cite book | first= Rudolf|last= Wittkower| year=1993| title= Pelican History of Art: Art and Architecture Italy, 1600-1750| chapter= | editor= | others=1980 | pages=339 | publisher= Penguin Books Ltd| id= | url= | authorlink=
*cite book| first=Michael| last=Bryan| year=1886| title="Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical" (Volume I: A-K)| editor = Robert Edmund Graves| pages= page 208| 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=4GYCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=DICTIONARY+AACHEN+AALST&as_brr=1| authorlink=
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
