Clemente Bocciardo (1620–1658) was an Italian painter of the

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 ...

. He was born in Genoa. He was also called ''Clementone'' because of his large size. He was a pupil of

Bernardo Strozzi Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644), was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included History painting, history, Allegory, allegorica ...

and accompanied

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (baptized 23 March 16095 May 1664) was an Italian Baroque painter, printmaker and draftsman, of the Genoese school (painting), Genoese school. He is best known now for his etchings, and as the inventor of the printm ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He painted a ''Martyrdom of St. Sebastian'' for the church of the Carthusians in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. He also painted in Florence.

Life and work

He was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 1620, he was a pupil of

, but he left his city very young to complete his education, together with Castiglione, first in

then in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. In Genoa, where he painted, according to Ratti, a Last Supper for the oratory of St. Germano (later in Santa Maria della Pietà) and a Corpus Domini for the church of St. Andrea, nothing remains of his work. Leaving Florence, at least from 1639 he stayed in

, where he died in 1658. He executed ''Baptist'' (signed and dated 1639) in the Del Pozzo chapel in

Camposanto Camposanto ( Modenese: ; Mirandolese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northeast of Modena on the Panaro river. Although the name in ...

. One of the first works painted in

was ''St. Carlo Borromeo'' in St. Frediano, and ''Madonna and Saints'' in the church of St. Matteo. Dispersed are two paintings with ''the Saints Peter and Paul'', who were still in the cathedral in 1912 over the little porticoes leading to the terrace of the relics, a canvas with ''St. Benedetto'' on the high altar of the church of the same name (now deconsecrated), ''St. Sebastiano'' in Charterhouse, an ''Immaculate Conception'' in the church of the Santa Croce in Fossabanda. Some works, now dispersed, were in churches of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. In Santa Maria delle Grazie, an altarpiece with ''St. Ignatius''. Averoldi cited a shovel with ''Madonna with the Saints Michele and Antonio'', in Saints Faustino and Giovita. The

Strozzi Strozzi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Numerous members of the Strozzi family, an ancient later ennobled family from Florence ** Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (c. 1408–1471), an Italian businesswoman and aristoc ...

school did not have a decisive impact in the pictorial formation of Bocciardo, perhaps one that was just indicative. Having chosen, on his pilgrimage to

and

, an itinerary so divergent from the master, he rather developed his interest in the novelties brought from Rome, where he had been among the admirers of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

. In fact, he spent a short time in Florence, where the competition was still strong, before ending up settling permanently in

, where he acquired fame and important commissions.

References

* ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocciardo, Clemente 1620 births 1658 deaths 17th-century Genoese people 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Genoa Italian Baroque painters