Giovanni Battista Crespi (23 December 1573 – 23 October 1632), called Il Cerano, was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Biography

He was born in

Romagnano Sesia Romagnano Sesia is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of about 4,000 inhabitants in the Province of Novara in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. Romagnano Sesia borders the fol ...

, the son of a painter, Raffaele Crespi, and moved to

Cerano Cerano (''Sciarön'' in lombard) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Novara. Cerano borders the following municipalities: Abbiategrass ...

with his family some years later. In 1591 he is known to have been living in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. True to the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

piety zealously expressed in Milanese art of his time, his paintings focus on mysteries and mystical episodes in saintly life. The crowded canvases and the angles recall

Mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

, but his paintings show an emotion that evokes common sentiments in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

art. Along with other artists, he completed a series of paintings (

Quadroni of St. Charles The Quadroni of St. Charles are two cycles of paintings depicting the life and miracles of St. Charles Borromeo, the first Saint of the Counter-Reformation. These very large paintings (''quadroni''), approximately five by six metres each, are dis ...

) of the life of St. Charles Borromeo

for the

Duomo of Milan Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Archbis ...

; an altarpiece with the ''Baptism of St. Augustine'' for

San Marco, Milan San Marco is a church in Milan, northern Italy. History According to tradition, the church was dedicated to St. Mark, patron of Venice, after the help given by that city in the war against Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century. However, the ...

; and a ''Mass of St. Gregory'' for the Basilica of San Vittore in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

(1615–17). Also see the nightmarish, ''St. Gregory Delivers the Soul of a Monk'' (1617), also in San Vittor

He was a scholar of considerable attainments and held a position of dignity in Cerano. In 1620 he was appointed the head of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Accademia Ambrosiana founded by

Cardinal Federico Borromeo Federico Borromeo (; 18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal, Archbishop of Milan, and prominent figure of the Counter-Reformation in Italy. His acts of charity, particularly during the famine of 1627–28, and his devoted ...

. Among his pupils were

Daniele Crespi Daniele Crespi (159819 July 1630) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original artists working in Milan in the 1620s. He broke away from the exaggerated manner of Lombard Mannerism in favour of an early Bar ...

Carlo Francesco Nuvolone Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1608 or 1609 in Milan – 1661 or 1662 in Milan)Melchiorre Gherardini Melchiorre Gherardini (1607–1668), known as Ceranino, was an Italian painter. Biography Born in Milan in 1607, Gherardini was closely linked in his artistic career to Giovan Battista Crespi, known as Cerano, his master and father-in-law. O ...

External links

Painters of reality: the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy
an exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Crespi (see index) *http://www.verbanensia.org/quadro_details.asp?quID=18755 *http://www.verbanensia.org/quadro_details.asp?quID=16003 *http://www.verbanensia.org/quadro_details.asp?quID=15651

References

* 1573 births 1632 deaths People from the Romagnano Sesia 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 17th-century Italian sculptors Painters from Milan Italian Mannerist architects Italian Mannerist painters Italian Mannerist sculptors {{Italy-painter-17thC-stub Catholic painters Catholic sculptors