- Antonio Tempesta
Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630) was an Italian painter and
engraver , a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture ofAntwerp . [Silvia Danesi Squarzina, "The Collections of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani. Part II" "The Burlington Magazine" 140 (February 1998: 102-118) especially p. 110, note 43.] He was born and trained inFlorence and painted in a variety of styles, influenced to some degree by "Contra-Maniera" or counter-Mannerism . He enrolled in the Florentine Accademia del Disegno in 1576, and was a pupil ofSanti di Tito , then of the Flemish painter Joannes Stradanus. He is now best known as aprintmaker inetching and engraving.He was part of the large set of artists working under
Giorgio Vasari on the interior decoration of thePalazzo Vecchio .His favorite subjects were battles, cavalcades, and processions. He relocated to
Rome , where he associated with artists from the Netherlands, which may have led to his facility withlandscape painting .He and Mattheus Brill were commissioned by
Pope Gregory XIII to paint wide panoramas of the "Procession to Transfer the Relics of St Gregory of Nazianzus" (1572) for theloggia s on the third floor of the Vatican Palace. He completed frescoes in the Palazzina Gambara at theVilla Lante inBagnaia (1578-09). From 1579-1583, Tempesta participated in the decoration of theVilla Farnese inCaprarola , notably of this villa's Scala Regia. He is also known to have collaborated onfresco es in theVilla d'Este atTivoli and the Palazzina Gamara atVilla Lante , Bagnaia He painted series of turbulent and crowded battle scenes for the Medici. He also completed a series of engravings on outdoor courtly hunting scenes. He illustrated many books, including editions ofOvid . He also painted frescoes for the Palazzos Colonna, the Doria Pamphilj, and for theMarchese Giustiniani in his Roman palace, where Tempesta collaborated with Paul Bril and at Bassano Sutri. [M.V. Brugnoli, "I primi affreschi nel palazzo Bassano di Sutro", "Bollettinon d'arte" (1957:241-54.] He also drew many designs for tapestries. He painted a "Murder of the Innocents" for the church ofSanto Stefano Rotondo in Rome. He also left mumerous etchings, among them: "Plates from the Old Testament"; twenty-four plates from the "Life of St. Anthony"; a set of one hundred and fifty prints from "Ovid’sMetamorphoses "; thirteen plates on "TheLabors of Hercules "; four plates on "The Ages of Man"; "The Entry of Alexander into Babylon"; "Diana and Actaon", and "The Crucifixion" (1612).In the church of
Santo Stefano Rotondo , there is a "Murder of the Innocents". He also left some 1800 etchings. Among his numerous prints are plates from the Old Testament; "Twenty-four plates from the Life of St. Anthony"; A set of one hundred and fifty prints from "Ovid’s Metamorphoses"; "The Labors of Hercules": "The Ages of Man" in four plates; "The Entry of Alexander into Babylon"; "Diana and Acteaon"; and "The Crucifixion" (1612).Notes
References
*Web Gallery of Art
*Grove Art Dictionary
*Eckhard Leuschner, "Antonio Tempesta. Ein Bahnbrecher des roemischen Barock und seine europaeische Wirkung", Petersberg 2005 (in German).
*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 556| 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=
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