Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religi ...

and

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The ...

, as well as those of Simone Cantarini. This gentle manner marked a break with the more energetic style of earlier Bolognese classicism of the

Bolognese School The Bolognese School of painting, also known as the ''School of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives i ...

of painting.

Life

He was born to a family of noble ancestry, but limited resources, in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. His father's first name was Pompeo, and his mother, Maddalena Quaini. Madonna and Child (Boston Public Library)

In Bologna, he studied first under

Battista Cairo Battista is a given name and surname which means Baptist in Italian. Given named * Battista Agnese (died 1564), cartographer from the Republic of Genoa, who worked in the Venetian Republic * Battista Dossi, also known as Battista de Luteri, I ...

and later under

Francesco Albani Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter who was active in Bologna (1591–1600), Rome (1600–1609), Bologna (1609), Viterbo (1609–1610), Bologna (1610), Rome (1610–1617), ...

, to whom he remained closely allied, and was his most famous disciple. His first noted commission was a ''St Paul exorcising demon'' for the church of the Gesu in Bologna. For a hall dedicated to the Farnese in the Palazzo Publico, he painted with Taruffi, depicting the ''Francis, king of France, curing Scrofula on his entry to Bologna'' and the ''Entry of Paul III Farnese to Bologna. He was also strongly influenced by the genius of Correggio and by the masterworks by

Melozzo da Forlì Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school. Biography ...

. For instance, his masterpiece, the ''Assumption of the Virgin'', around the cupola of the church of the Madonna del Fuoco at

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via Em ...

, is inspired by the Correggio's frescoes in the cupola of the Cathedral of Parma and by the Melozzo's perspective from down to up. These frescoes occupied Cignani for some twenty years. In 1681 Cignani returned to Bologna from Parma. He opened an ''accademia del nudo'' for painting from models and had as one of his pupils Giuseppe Maria Crespi. He had some of the defects of his masters: his elaborate finish and his audacious artificiality in the use of color and in composition mark Albani's influence. Despite that, he imparted to his work more of an intellectual character than his mentors. As a man Cignani was eminently amiable, unassuming and generous. Marcello Malpighi by Carlo Cignani

He accepted no honors offered him by the

duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

, but lived and died an artist. In 1686 he moved to Forlì, where he died. When the

Accademia Clementina The Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna ("academy of fine arts of Bologna") is a public tertiary academy of fine art in Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. It has a campus in Cesena. Giorgio Morandi taught engraving at the Acc ...

for Bolognese artists was founded in 1706, Cignani was posthumously elected ''Principe in absencia'' for life. His most famous pictures, in addition to the ''Assumption'' already cited, are the ''Entry of Paul III into Bologna''; the ''Francis I Touching for Kings Evil''; a ''Power of Love'', painted under a fine ceiling by

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci (or Caracci) (16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders ...

, on the walls of a room in the ducal palace at Parma; an ''Adam and Eve'' (at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

); and two of ''Joseph and Potiphars Wife ''(at Dresden and Copenhagen). His son

Felice Cignani Felice Cignani (January 27, 1660 – January 12, 1724) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Forlì and Bologna. He was a pupil and son of the painter Carlo Cignani. Felice helped train his cousin, Paolo Cignani (1709� ...

(1660–1724) and nephew Paolo Cignani (1709–1764) were also painters. His most noted pupils were Marcantonio Franceschini and

Federico Bencovich upright 1.2, ''Saint Andrew among the Saints Batholomew, Carlo Borromeo, Lucy and Apollonia'', ca. 1710–1716 Federico Bencovich (1667 – 8 July 1753) was a late Baroque painter from Dalmatia working in Italy. He is best known as ''Federico Be ...

. Other pupils include Giacomo Boni, Andrea and Francesco Bondi; Giovanni Girolamo Bonesi;

Girolamo Domini Girolamo Donnini (18 April 1681 – 1743) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, born in the town of Correggio, Emilia-Romagna. He was a pupil of the painters Francesco Stringa in Modena, and then of Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole in Bologna, ...

;

Pietro Donzelli Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II Can ...

;

Francesco Galli Francesco Galli, called Francesco da Bibiena (or da Bibbiena), a member of the theatrical Galli da Bibiena family and younger brother of Ferdinando Galli, was born at Bologna in 1659. He first studied under Lorenzo Pasinelli; but he was afterw ...

;

Bonaventura Lamberti Bonaventura Lamberti (c. 1653 – 19 September 1721) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He was born at Carpi, and after some years working at Modena, he became a pupil of the painter Carlo Cignani in Rome. There, h ...

;

Giovanni Battista Loreti Giovanni Battista Loreti (1686 in Fano – 13 December 1760, in Fabriano) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque period, active mainly in Fabriano. Life Born in Fano, his first years were in Fabriano, he soon moved to Rome, where he trained ...

;

Matteo Zamboni Matteo Zamboni (active early 18th century) was an Italian painter, active in Emilia-Romagna. He was the pupil of Carlo Cignani. Biography This Matteo Zamboni died young, and was active circa 1710, and is best known for two altarpieces from the ...

;

Camilla Lauteri Camilla may refer to: People * Camilla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), wife of King Charles III Places * Camilla, Georgia, a city in the United States * Camilla Castle, an alternat ...

; Stefano Maria Legnani;

; Charles Lucy (1692 - after 1767), Francesco Mancini;

Paolo Antonio Paderna Paolo Antonio Paderna (1649–1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Bologna, he was a pupil of the painter Guercino, then of Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovat ...

., and

Sante Vandi Sante Vandi (1653–1716) was an Italian portrait painter of the Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the ...

.Dizionario degli architetti, scultori, pittori, intagliatori d'ogni By Stefano Ticozzi, page 449, 1832

Selected works

*''Penitent Magdalen'', Dulwich Picture Gallerybr>
*'' Commons:Image:Carlo_Cignani_001.jpg, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'' (c. 1680), Oil on canvas, 99 x 99 cm, Gemäldegalerie,

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

*''Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'', Musee Fesch, Ajacci

*''Charity'' Oil on canvas, 119.4 x 161.3 cm, San Francisco Museum of Art

* ''I piaceri della vita in campagna'

*''Judgement of Paris'' (1691), Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 161 cm

*''Aurora'',

Circolo della Scranna Circle is a type of administrative division of some countries. In Thailand the former ''monthon'' are translated as circle. The former Holy Roman Empire was organized into Imperial Circles (German: Reichskreise). Algerian daïras are circles. See ...

br>
*''Incoronazione di Santa Rosa'' (''Coronation of Saint Rose of Lima''), Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica *''Self-portrait'', Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica * With

, ''La Vergine e San Filippo Neri'' (''The Virgin and Saint Philip Neri''), Oil on canvas,

, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica.

Gallery

File:Château de Chantilly, Carlo Cignani, Madonna and Child.JPG, ''Madonna and Child'', circa 1680 File:Moïse sauvé des eaux Nancy 3018.jpg, ''The Finding of Moses,'' Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy File:Carlo Cignani - Saint Augustine - M.Ob.1102 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Saint Augustine'' File:San Giovannino e l'agnello - Carlo Cignani.jpg, ''Saint John and the Lamb'' File:Cignani, Carlo - The Penitent Magdalen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Penitent Magdalen'', circa 1685–90

References

External links

* * * * , and engraving by

William Ensom William Ensom (1796–1832), was an English engraver. Career Ensom, in 1815 gained a silver prize medal from the Society of Arts for a pen-and-ink portrait of William Blake, poet and painter. He is best known by some small and neatly finished e ...

for The Easter Gift, 1832, with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cignani, Carlo 1628 births 1719 deaths Painters from Bologna 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian male artists