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24-539: Frescoes in the villa were carried out by Domenichino, Guercino , Giovambattista Viola, and others. A casina was added, largely to house the Cardinal's growing collection of Roman sculptures and inscriptions, which Alessandro Algardi treated to sometimes extensive restoration. The villa passed to the ownership of the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, which in 1872 rented it to King Victor Emmanuel II . The King used

48-405: Is best remembered as the patron of Galileo Galilei , his childhood tutor. Cosimo's father Ferdinando I took care to provide him with a modern education. Indeed, Galileo Galilei was Cosimo's tutor between 1605 and 1608. Ferdinando arranged for him to marry Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria , daughter of Archduke Charles II , in 1608. Their marriage was celebrated with an elaborate display on

72-525: The Archiginnasio of Bologna in 1968 provided the most complete panorama of Guercino's work to date, including paintings from the later parts of his career after the death of Pope Gregory XV, which had previously attracted relatively little attention. For the fourth centenary of the artist's birth in 1991, an expanded exhibition was organized by the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna in conjunction with

96-698: The Arno , which included a performance of the Argonautica , in which Jason sailed around an artificial island and presented Maria Maddalena with six red apples, alluding to the Medici family symbolic balls, or palle. Cosimo and Maria Maddalena had eight children in just eight years; among them was Cosimo's eventual successor, Ferdinando II , an Archduchess of Inner Austria , a Duchess of Parma and two cardinals. Ferdinando I died in 1609. Due to his precarious health, Cosimo did not actively participate in governing his realm, but he

120-584: The Aurora myth (1621, Villa Aurora , Rome, Italy), painted for the pope's nephew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi . challenges the more measured representation of the same subject painted by Guido Reni at Palazzo Rospigliosi on behalf of a Ludovisi family rival and makes a statement of political triumph. Some of his later works are closer to the style of Reni, and are painted with much greater luminosity and clarity than his early works with their prominent use of chiaroscuro. Guercino continued to paint and teach until

144-746: The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and the National Gallery of Art, Washington . Both these exhibitions were curated by Guercino's biggest modern champion, Denis Mahon , who was responsible for their catalogues. In 2011–2012, a large exhibition was displayed at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, dedicated to the memory of Mahon, who had recently died. An exhibition displayed at the National Museum in Warsaw in 2013–2014 offered another extensive presentation of

168-933: The Madonna and Child (now in Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art , Kansas City). The Corsini also paid him 300 ducats for the Flagellation of Christ painted in 1657. Guercino was remarkable for the extreme rapidity of his executions: he completed no fewer than 106 large altarpieces for churches, and his other paintings amount to about 144. He was also a prolific draftsman. His production includes many drawings, usually in ink, washed ink, or red chalk. Most of them were made as preparatory studies for his paintings, but he also drew landscapes, genre subjects , and caricatures for his own enjoyment. Guercino's drawings are known for their fluent style in which "rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe

192-743: The Vatican (now in the Museo Capitolini ). Following the death of Gregory XV in 1623, Guercino returned to his hometown of Cento. In 1626, he began his frescoes in the Duomo of Piacenza . The details of his career after 1629 are well documented in the account book, the Libro dei Conti di Casa Barbieri , that Guercino and his brother Paolo Antonio Barbieri , a notable painter of still lifes , kept updated, and which has been preserved. Between 1618 and 1631, Giovanni Battista Pasqualini produced 67 engravings that document

216-408: The artist's work. Cosimo II de%27 Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until his death. He was the elder son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany , and Christina of Lorraine . For the majority of his twelve-year reign, he delegated the administration of Tuscany to his ministers. He

240-492: The distinction between disciplines and advance theories of Nicolaus Copernicus by using mathematics to address questions of physics. The already famous Galileo had used his telescopic accomplishments in his bid for patronage. Once appointed, Galileo moved to the Florence court and found a resource rich environment where he worked as philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. Galileo was actively involved in court life and supported

264-615: The dynastic rhetoric of the Medici family. Aside from producing intellectual spectacles, Galileo used the Medici court to advance his theoretical claims and discoveries. The four moons of Jupiter he had discovered were named Medicean Stars in reference to Cosimo and his three brothers. Tuscan ambassadors were used to advance scientific debate in Europe. Ambassadors in Prague, Paris, London and Madrid received copies of Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius and were sent telescopes constructed by Galileo, paid for by

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288-470: The early production of Guercino, which is not included in the Libro dei Conti . In 1642, following the death of his commercial rival Guido Reni , Guercino moved his busy workshop to Bologna, where he was now able to take over Reni's role as the city's leading painter of sacred subjects. In 1655, the Franciscan Order of Reggio paid him 300 ducats for the altarpiece of Saint Luke Displaying a Painting of

312-656: The end of his life, amassing a notable fortune. He died on December 22, 1666, in Bologna. As he never married, his estate passed to his nephews and pupils, Benedetto Gennari II and Cesare Gennari . Other pupils include Giulio Coralli , Giuseppe Bonati of Ferrara, Cristoforo Serra of Cesena, Father Cesare Pronti of Ferrara, Sebastiano Ghezzi , Sebastiano Bombelli , Lorenzo Bergonzoni of Bologna, Francesco Paglia of Brescia., Benedetto Zallone of Cento, Bartolomeo Caravoglia , Giuseppe Maria Galeppini of Forli, and Matteo Loves . A groundbreaking exhibition held at

336-424: The forms". Despite presumably having monocular vision due to a 'lazy' right eye, Guercino showed remarkable facility to imply depth in his works, perhaps assisted by an enhanced perception of light and shade thanks to compensation by the healthy eye. Other artists with different types of strabismus include Rembrandt , Dürer , Degas , Picasso and (possibly) Leonardo da Vinci . His lively treatment of

360-694: The nickname by which he is universally known, Guercino (a diminutive of the Italian noun guercio , meaning 'squinter'). Mainly self-taught, at the age of 16, he worked as apprentice in the shop of Benedetto Gennari , a painter of the Bolognese School . An early commission was for the decoration with frescos (1615–1616 ) of Casa Pannini in Cento, where the naturalism of his landscapes already reveals considerable artistic independence, as do his landscapes on canvas Moonlit Landscape and Country Concert from

384-694: The only one to remain being the Casino dell'Aurora . The Via Veneto was driven through the former grounds, part of which are occupied by the American Embassy in Palazzo Margherita , and the Rione Ludovisi took shape, borrowing its name from the cardinal and his villa. Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666), better known as ( il ) Guercino ( Italian pronunciation: [ɡwerˈtʃiːno] ),

408-514: The same era. In Bologna, he was winning the praise of Ludovico Carracci . He always acknowledged that his early style had been influenced by study of a Madonna painted by Ludovico Carracci for the Capuchin church in Cento, affectionately known as "La Carraccina". St William Receiving the Monastic Habit (1620, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna , Italy), painted for St Gregory Church in Bologna,

432-451: The same pair of shepherds ) is typical of Guercino's early works, which are often tumultuous in conception. He painted two large canvases, Samson Seized by Philistines (1619) and Elijah Fed by Ravens (1620), for Cardinal Serra, a Papal Legate to Ferrara. Painted at a time when it is unlikely that Guercino could have seen Caravaggio 's work in Rome, these works nevertheless display a starkly naturalistic Caravaggesque style. Guercino

456-524: The villa as residence for his lover, Rosa Vercellana . İn 1885, despite great protests among the intellectuals, its last owner, Don Rodolfo Boncompagni Ludovisi, the Prince of Piombino , faced serious financial troubles and decided to sell the property to the Società Generale Immobiliare. The Villa was divided into building lots. The sculptures were dispersed, and most of the buildings destroyed,

480-596: Was Guercino's largest ecclesiastical commission at the time and is considered a high point of his early career. His painting Et in Arcadia ego from around 1618–1622 contains the first known usage anywhere of the Latin motto, later taken up by Poussin and others, signifying that death lurks even in the most idyllic setting . The dramatic composition of this canvas (related to his Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo (1617–1618 ) created for The Grand Duke of Tuscany , which shares

504-537: Was a great patron of science and letters. Just over a year after Cosimo's accession, Galileo dedicated his Sidereus Nuncius , an account of his telescopic discoveries, to the grand duke. Cosimo extended the Palazzo Pitti , and he reconstructed the Villa del Poggio Imperiale . In spite of his lack of interest in governance, the grand duke did assiduously enlarge the navy. He died on 28 February 1621 from tuberculosis and

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528-689: Was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna . The vigorous naturalism of his early manner contrasts with the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was born into a family of peasant farmers in Cento , a town in the Po Valley mid-way between Bologna and Ferrara . Being cross-eyed , at an early age he acquired

552-715: Was recommended by Marchese Enzo Bentivoglio to the newly elected Bolognese Ludovisi Pope, Pope Gregory XV in 1621. The years he spent in Rome, 1621–23, were very productive. From this period are his frescoes Aurora at the casino of the Villa Ludovisi , the ceiling in San Crisogono (1622) of San Chrysogonus in Glory , the portrait of Pope Gregory XV (now in the Getty Museum ), and the St. Petronilla Altarpiece for St. Peter's Basilica in

576-407: Was succeeded by his elder son, Ferdinando II, still a minor at the time of his father's death. The regency for the new grand duke was bestowed upon Cosimo II's wife and mother, as per his wishes. Galileo Galilei was named court mathematician to Cosimo in 1610, a post that freed Galileo from the constraints of teaching mathematics at universities. As court mathematician, Galileo was free to challenge

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