Bartolomeo Schedoni (sometimes Schedone)
(1578 – 23 December 1615) was an Italian early
Baroque painter from
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
.
Biography
He was born in
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
, and moved to
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
with his father, a mask-maker who served the Farnese court.
In 1595 Schedoni traveled to Rome, where he apprenticed briefly under
Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.
Biography
Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ( Marche).
His do ...
with the sponsorship of
Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma
Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and Piacenza, thus rescinding the n ...
.
[Miller, Dwight C. "Schedoni, Bartolomeo". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web.] After falling ill, he returned to Parma. The baroque art historian
Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616–1693) claims that Schedoni trained under
Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of t ...
in Bologna, although this is questionable; his early work reveals instead his study of
Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...
's works in Parma.
Schedoni's earliest known commission was in 1598.
He left Parma after an imprisonment for assault, and relocated to Modena. There he served as painter to the court of
Cesare d’Este, and collaborated with
Ercole dell'Abate in decorating the ceiling of the Sala del Consiglio Vecchio of the Palazzo Comunale.
After an interruption caused by Schedoni's imprisonment for another altercation, this work was completed in July 1607.
After December 1607, he worked in Parma for the court of
Ranuccio I
Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and Piacenza, thus rescinding the n ...
. The duke greatly esteemed Schedoni, and gave him a farm at when Schedoni married in 1611. Schedoni's works included small devotional images and the large altarpiece ''Holy Family in Glory Worshipped by SS John the Baptist, Francis of Assisi, Lawrence and Peregrinus''.
Schedoni died on 23 December 1615. According to the Modenese chronicler Giovanni Battista Spaccini, he died in a "fit of passion"—possibly a suicide—after a night of heavy gambling losses.
Style

Schedoni's paintings often depict brilliantly lit figures set against a dark background. Great emphasis is given to the angular patterns of brightly colored drapery, which, according to the art historian
Lawrence Gowing
Sir Lawrence Burnett Gowing (21 April 1918 – 5 February 1991) was an English artist, writer, curator and teacher. Initially recognised as a portrait and landscape painter, he quickly rose to prominence as an art educator, writer, and eventuall ...
, "almost obscure the narrative content of the scene and instead disseminate a pervading sense of emotional emergency."
Schedoni's late manner shows the influence of
Ludovico Carracci
Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early- Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light t ...
.
Another important influence on Schedoni's style and subjects was
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
, whose ''
Entombment of Christ
The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel narratives, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the san ...
'' (1603–04) provided the prototype for Schedoni's ''Deposition'' (c. 1613) in the
Galleria Nazionale of Parma.
[Zirpolo, Lilian H. (2010)]
''Historical Dictionary of Baroque Art and Architecture''
Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. p. 480. . The Parmesan painter
Giovanni Lanfranco
Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.
Biography
Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the h ...
was among those who found inspiration in Schedoni's theatrical style.
Schedoni's masterpieces are in the Galleria Nazionale of Parma, and were the two paintings intended for the altar of the church of the Capuchin convent in
Fontevivo
Fontevivo (Parmigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Parma. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,337 and an ar ...
, near Parma.
Selected works
*''Deposition'' (c. 1610),
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
*''Charity'' (1611)
*''Deposition'' (1613),
Galleria Nazionale of Parma
*''Saint Elizabeth Giving Alms to the Poor'' (1613, painted for the Ducal Palace in Parma, before being moved to Naples with the Farnese Collection in 1734 upon being inherited by
Charles of Bourbon, then to Rome by the French from 1799 to 1832, before being returned to Naples, initially to the Museo Borbonico then in 1841 to the
Royal Palace
This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent.
Africa
* Abdin Palace, Cairo
* Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo
* Koubbeh Palace, Cairo
* Tahra Palace, Cairo
* Menelik Palace
* Jubilee Palace
* Guenete Leul Palace
* Imperial Palace- Mass ...
)
*''Three Marys at the Tomb'' (c. 1613–14)
*''Rest on the Flight to Egypt''
References
Sources
*
* M. Horak and F. Obertelli, ''Opere di Bartolomeo Schedoni nel piacentino'', in "Panorama Musei", anno XXI, n. 1, aprile 2016
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schedoni, Bartolomeo
16th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
17th-century Italian painters
Painters from Parma
Italian Baroque painters
Painters from Modena
1578 births
1615 deaths
Caravaggisti