Workshop of Francesco Antonio Xaverio Grue - Small Urn with Silenus - Walters 482079

Francesco Antonio Xaverio Grue (1686–1746) was an Italian potter and painter.

Biography

Grue was born in

Castelli, Abruzzo Castelli ( Abruzzese: ') is a ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy, included in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). The medieval hil ...

, into a family of

maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. The most renowned Italian maiolica is from the Renaissance period. These works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ("painted with stories") when depicting historical and ...

potters and painters. His grandfather was

Francesco Grue Francesco Angelo Grue (Castelli, Abruzzo, 11 September 1618 – 5 October 1673) was an Italian potter and painter. Biography Francesco was from a family of maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background ...

and his father was Carlo Antonio, who was also a potter. In Naples, Grue produced many ceramic works, especially plates decorated with landscapes or

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

in the center, and tendril or

festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...

borders. Wares were also often signed and dated. In 1736 he returned to his hometown and continued to work until his death in 1746. Initially sent to the Seminary of

Penne, Abruzzo Penne (, ; ''Pònne'' in the local dialect) is an Italian town in the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region, in mid-southern Italy. According to the last census in 2014 the population was 12,451. It is one of ("The most beautiful villages of ...

to become a priest, but uninterested in liturgy, he became interested in literature. He left to study medicine in Teramo, civil law in Naples, and canon law in Rome. Despite all this training, he gravitated to the arts, and studied in Penne with Giovanni Lavalle. After a stint in

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

, he developed a focus on decorating ceramics. His depicted

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

Bamboccianti The ''Bamboccianti'' were genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherl ...

themes. Grue headed a tax revolt that broke out in Castelli, Abruzzo in 1716 against the Marchese Francesco Paolo Mendoza when he imposed a tax on the clay used to make majolica. He was jailed for a number of years in Naples, but emerged, and is responsible for painting some of the ceramics at pharmacy of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, Naples. The ceramics depicted the illnesses treated by the contents of the ceramic jars.''Artisti abruzzesi: pittori, scultori, architetti, maestri di musica'' ...
By Vincenzo Bindi, (1883); Naples, Comm G De Angelis E Figlio , Tipografi de SM il Re D'Italia, Portamedina all Pignasecca 44. Page 146-147.

References

17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Artists from the Kingdom of Naples Italian potters 1746 deaths 1686 births People from the Province of Teramo 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-artist-stub