Ciro Ferri (1634 – 13 September 1689) was an Italian Baroque sculptor and painter, the chief pupil and successor of

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

. He was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he began working under Cortona and with a team of artists in the extensive fresco decorations of the

Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzi ...

(1656–59). He collaborated with Cortona and completed for him the extensive frescoed ceilings and other internal decorations begun in the

Pitti Palace The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

(1659–65). His independent masterpiece is considered an extensive series of scriptural frescoes in the church of Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Bergamo). Also well known is his an altarpiece of ''St Ambrose Healing the Sick'' in the church of

Sant'Ambrogio della Massima Sant'Ambrogio della Massima (also Sant'Ambrogio alla Massima) is a Roman Catholic church in rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy, that perhaps dates to the 4th century. It was a convent until it became the subject of a Vatican investigation in the 19 ...

in Rome. In 1670, he began the painting of the cupola of

Sant'Agnese in Agone Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christi ...

in central Rome, in a style recalling of Lanfranco's work in the dome of

Sant'Andrea della Valle Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vitto ...

; but died before it was completed in 1693 by his successor

Sebastiano Corbellini Sebastiano is both a masculine Italian given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Sebastiano Antonio Tanara (1650–1724), Italian cardinal * Sebastiano Baggio (1913–1993), Italian clergyman * Sebastiano Bianchi (16th cent ...

. He executed also a large amount of miscellaneous designs, such as etchings and frontispieces for books; and served as an architect as well. Ferri was appointed to direct the Florentine students in Rome, and Gabbiani was one of his leading pupils. As regards style, Ferri ranks as chief of the grand manner of Cortona, also known as the Machinists movement, as opposed to the more sober and spare style promulgated by

Andrea Sacchi Andrea Sacchi (30 November 159921 June 1661) was an Italian painter of High Baroque Classicism, active in Rome. A generation of artists who shared his style of art include the painters Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Battista Passeri, the sculptors ...

, and continued by

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

and others. Among the many pupils and assistants were

Ambrogio Besozzi Ambrogio Besozzi or ''Giovanni Ambrogio Besozzi'' (1648–1706) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Life He was born in Milan in 1648 where his first training was with Gioseffo Danedi, ''il Montalto''. He assisted Ciro Ferri in Rome wi ...

, Camillo Gabrielli,

Marziale Carpinoni Marziale Carpinoni (c. 1644–1722) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Clusone, he was the grandson of Domenico Carpinoni. Carpinoni received his initial training in art first by his father, then by his grandfather. He was af ...

, Filippo Maria Galetti, Benedetto Luti, Giovanni Battista Marmi, Pietro Montanini, Giuseppe Nasini, Giovanni Odazzi, Tommaso Redi, and Urbano Romanelli. Ciro Ferri became a member of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its f ...

on 3 June 1657. His ciborium for the high altar of Santa Maria in Vallicella is a masterpieces of 17th-century bronze decorative sculpture. He continued under the patronage of the Medici, when together with the sculptor Ercole Ferrata, Ferri the painter led the Medici Academy in Rome, established in 1673 by Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany. Among the pupils sent there from Florence were

Anton Domenico Gabbiani Anton Domenico Gabbiani (13 February 1652 – 22 November 1726) was an Italian painter and active in a late Baroque style. Biography Born in Florence, Gabbiani first apprenticed with the Medici court portrait painter Justus Sustermans, then ...

Giovanni Battista Foggini Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Foggini (25 April 1652 – 12 April 1725) was an Italian sculptor active in Florence, renowned mainly for small bronze statuary. Biography Born in Florence, the young Foggini was sent to Rome by the Medici Gran ...

Atanasio Bimbacci Atanasio Bimbacci (circa 1654 -1734) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in his native Florence. He painted a ''St Louis Gonzaga'' for the church of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi in Florence. He also decorated a numbe ...

Carlo Marcellini Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

, and Massimiliano Soldani Benzi . Ferri was also responsible for the

Reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a '' shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fe ...

of the Arm of

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

which is found in the

St John's Co-Cathedral St John's Co-Cathedral ( mt, Kon-Katidral ta' San Ġwann) is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral in Valletta, Malta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1573 and 1578, having been commissioned by Grand Ma ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Ciro Ferri contributed five illustrations to the missal of

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice-papal legate, and ...

Chigi, which was published in 1662. It also contained works by fellow artists in Rome, including

, Carlo Cesi, Guglielmo Cortese,

Carlo Maratti Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

, Jan Miel,

Cornelis Bloemaert Cornelis Bloemaert II (1603 – 28 September 1692), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver. Biography Bloemaert was born at Utrecht. He studied with his father, Abraham Bloemaert, his brothers Hendrick and Adriaan, and his father's pup ...

, and

Pier Francesco Mola Pier Francesco Mola, called Il Ticinese (9 February 1612 – 13 May 1666) was an Italian painter of the High Baroque, mainly active around Rome. Biography Mola was born at Coldrerio (now in Ticino, Switzerland).''Ecstasy in the Wilderness: Pie ...

. ''17th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art''
By Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Jacob Bean. He died in Rome in 1689.

References

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferri, Ciro 1634 births 1689 deaths Painters from Rome 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters