Giuseppe Maria Crespi

Variant namesGiuseppe Maria Crespi

DatesBiographical dates: 1665 - 1747 dead: dead 1747-03-25 born: born 1665-03-14

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BiographyBiography: Giuseppe Maria Crespi was steeped in the tradition of the Carracci, yet due to a wide range of influences, and possibly a lack of artistic prejudice, he developed an idiosyncratic and instantly recognizable style of his own. Clearly influenced by Annibale’s figure drawing, he drew no less inspiration from Ludovico’s emphasis on dramatic compositions, highlighted with bold colours. From 1681, Crespi attended an “Accademia del nudo” held in the studio of the Bolognese caposcuola, Carlo Cignani, and from 1686 he was accepted as a student proper. Cignani’s influence on Crespi’s work, however, was limited to the early part of his career, as Crespi soon moved away from his clear and finely delineated academism. He studied under the Bolognese fresco painter Domenico Maria Canuti (1625‒1684) and later collaborated with Canuti’s other student, Giovanni Antonio Burrini (1656‒1727). From these painters, Crespi adopted zest and brio in his brushwork. Through the patronage of the wealthy merchant Giovanni Ricci, Crespi was able to travel extensively to study the great 16thand 17th-century masters. In Venice, he studied Veronese, Titian and Bassano; in Parma, Correggio and Parmigianino; and in Urbino, the work of Federico Barocci. Possibly Ricci’s patronage also meant that he was free to develop his interest in genre painting. Crespi’s strong emphasis on colour, and its exact application in differing shades, seems to have derived from a study of the Venetian painters, in particular Veronese, but also from the late Renaissance master Barocci, in particular the latter’s ability to infuse his paintings with light-saturated tonal qualities. These influences are particularly evident in paintings such as The Wedding at Cana in the Art Institute of Chicago. Later, Crespi also assimilated Guercino’s handling of light and its application in typical Bolognese classicist compositions. Crespi formed his own school, and amongst his most prominent students was Antonio Gionima (1697‒1732). By the 1690s, Crespi was established as an artist in Bologna, receiving prestigious commissions from clients such as Prince Eugene of Savoy. A commission to replace Lanfranco’s altarpiece in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Cortona, brought him into contact with another influential patron, Grand Duke Ferdinand di Medici, for whom he later painted The Massacre of the Innocents and several genre paintings, the most famous of which is the Fair at Poggio a Caiano in the Uffizi. The commissions he received from the Medici court in Florence enabled Crespi to study a wide range of artists and genres, for example at the Palazzo Pitti. Perhaps to some extent this accounts for the extraordinary versatility and variety of his work.

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