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- Domenichino
- Also known as
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Domenichino
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primary name: Domenichino
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other name: Zampieri, Domenico
- Details
- individual; painter/draughtsman; Bolognese; Italian; Male
- Life dates
- 1581-1641
- Biography
- Painter. Domenico Zampieri, known as Domenichino, b. Bologna 1581, d. Naples 1641.
(Text from Turner 1999)
His formative years were spent studying at the Accademia degli Incamminati, the art academy run by the Carracci in Bologna, together with Francesco Albani and Guido Reni. He transferred to Rome in 1602 and after a decade of few commissions and only minor success was assigned to paint scenes from the legend of St Nilus at the Abbey of Grottaferrata (1608-10), soon followed by the altarpiece of the 'Last Communion of St Jerome' in San Girolamo della Carità (1611-14) and frescoes in the chapel of S. Cecilia in San Luigi dei Francesi (1611-15). The Aldobrandini, whose villa at Frascati he decorated with a series of frescoes dealing with stories of Apollo (1616-18), were among his most prominent patrons. He worked on a Marian cycle for the Nolfi family chapel in the Duomo at Fano (1618-19), but in autumn 1622 was summoned to Rome by Cardinal Alessandro Peretti Montalto to decorate the choir and pendentives of the great new Theatine church of S.Andrea della Valle (1622-7); the scenes from the life of Christ and the figures of the four Evangelists (see 1920,1116.39) are among Domenichino's most notable works. In 1631 Domenichino left Rome for Naples in order to execute his last commission, the decoration of the pendentives and dome of the chapel of S. Gennaro in the cathedral. The work was still incomplete when he died ten years later, allegedly poisoned by jealous Neapolitan artists.
Among Domenichino's easel paintings the landscapes are especially noteworthy; the early genre landscapes and the fresco of a 'Landscape with Two Lovers' in the Villa Ludovisi (1621-2) are strongly indebted to Annibale Carracci's work (see 1895,0915.701). In later landscapes mythological subjects predominate. Domenichino was, however, foremost as a frescoist of great religious cycles and a major part of his life was devoted to the cycles at Frascati, Fano, S. Andrea della Valle and Naples.
- Bibliography
- R.E.Spear, 'Domenichino,' 2 vols Yale 1982 (catalogue of paintings, with a register of engravers after his work, p.377)
Exhibition catalogue, Rome 1996
Olivier Bonfait, AAF 1997, pp.63-84, (prints after D. in XVIIc France)
