- NameAndrea Schiavone
- Activity/Titlepainter, draughtsman, graphic artist
- Sexmale
- Nationality/DatesItalian, born 1510, dead 1563
BiographyAndrea Meldolla was born in the city of Zara in
present-day Croatia, an area which in the 16th
century was controlled by the Venetians. His
later sobriquet “Schiavone” refers to his birthplace
in this Slav country. Schiavone’s family
originally hailed from the small town of Meldola,
close to Forlì, in Romagna. There are uncertainties
concerning the early claim that his Romagnan
compatriot Parmigianino was his teacher,
but it seems at least as if the drawing style of
the Parmese master, and of the principal Italian
Mannerist artists in general, greatly influenced
Schiavone early on. In all likelihood, Schiavone
was later educated in Venice, possibly in the studio
of Lorenzo and Giovanni Pietro Luzzo. He
soon excelled in both painting and etching, fusing
his Mannerist influences with the chromatic
focus of the Venetian school. In the middle of the
century there seems to have been mutual inspiration
in particular between Schiavone and Titian,
with the latter inspired by the former’s Mannerist
loosening of forms and, conversely, the former
inspired by the latter’s more defined outlines.
During this time Schiavone executed a few copies
and interpretations of Titian’s paintings, with the
artist’s approval, as well as copies of his paintings
in etchings. Schiavone himself mainly received
private commissions. Through the influence of
his Mannerist inclination, Schiavone played an
integral part in the evolution of Venetian painting
in the second half of the 16th century.