Cesare Aretusi Retrato de Alfonso II de Este, duque de Ferrara

Cesare Aretusi (1 September 1549 – 4 October 1612) was an Italian painter of the late-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

period. 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 trained with

Bartolomeo Ramenghi Bartolomeo Ramenghi (1484–1542), also called ''Bagnacavallo'', ''il Bagnacavallo'' or ''il Baruffaldi'', was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active in Emilia-Romagna. He received the nickname, Bagnacavallo, from the village Bagnacavallo ...

(Bagnacavallo). Known primarily as a portrait painter, Aretusi also painted the cupola of the cathedral of St. Peter 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 ...

, where he was assisted by

Giovanni Battista Fiorini Giovanni Battista Fiorini was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance period. He was a native of Bologna. He was active at the close of the 16th century, and died after 1595. He is chiefly known as a coadjutor of Cesare Aretusi, with whom h ...

. Aretusi is described by Lanzi as the better colorist, while Fiorini, the better designer. Aretusi restored the frescoes 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 ...

for the tribune of the

Cathedral of Parma Parma Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Parma; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Parma, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Parma. It ...

, and made a copy of the famous ''

La Notte ''La Notte'' (; en, "The Night") is a 1961 drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti (with Umberto Eco appearing in a cameo). Filmed on location in Milan, the film is the r ...

'' painting by Correggio for the church of

San Giovanni Evangelista San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Ravenna, Italy. It was built in the fifth century AD by the Roman imperial princess Galla Placidia. In the Middle Ages the Benedictines annexed to it an important monastery. In the 14th century both the ch ...

in Parma. He died in 1612 in Parma. The relationship of Cesare to the Modenese painters with the same surname, Pellegrino from the early 16th century or

Alessandro Aretusi Alessandro Aretusi was an Italian portrait painter of the 17th century from Modena, active in Florence painting for the court of the Grand Dukes Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monar ...

from the 17th, is unclear. Lanzi speculates he may have been the son of

Pellegrino Aretusi Pellegrino Aretusi (ca. 1460–1523), also known as Pellegrini de Modena and as Pellegrino Munari, was an Italian painter who was born in Modena, Italy. His early instruction was from his father Giovanni Munari. About 1509, Pellegrino went to ...

References

* * * 1580s births 1612 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Modena Italian Mannerist painters Fresco painters {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub