Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo (1584 – August 18, 1638) was an Italian painter active mainly 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 ...

Life

Ansaldo was born in

Voltri Voltri is a quartiere of the Italian city of Genoa, located west of the city centre. It was formerly an independent comune. In 2015, Voltri and the nearby hamlets included in Genoa's VII Municipio (Crevari, Acquasanta, Vesima, Fabbriche) had a ...

, now part of the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

, the son of a merchant. He trained under

Orazio Cambiasi Orazio Cambiasi, also Orazio Cambiaso, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Genoese school of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Cambiasi was born to the painter Luca Cambiaso, who trained him. He specialized in frescos decorati ...

and possibly collaborated with

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 ...

. Two of his pupils were Giuseppe Badaracco and

Bartolomeo Bassi Bartolomeo Bassi (early 1600s (decade)-1640s) was an Italian painter active in the early-Baroque period, mainly in his hometown of Genoa. He was a disciple of Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo, and painted quadratura Illusionistic ceiling painting, whic ...

. One of his descendants was

Innocenzo Ansaldo Innocenzo is a male given name of Latin origin. Notable people with this name include: *Innocenzo da Berzo (1844–1890), Roman Catholic priest *Innocenzo Bonelli (), Captain Regent of San Marino *Innocenzo Del Bufalo-Cancellieri (1566–1610), Rom ...

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

(February 12, 1734- February 16, 1816). He died in Genoa and was probably buried in the same Annunziata church.

Work

Only a few of Ansaldo's works are dated or documented, but most of these paintings listed in the early art historian Raffaello Soprani's 1768 publication about artists in Genoa ''Le vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti genovesi'' still survive.M. Newcome. "Ansaldo, Andrea." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.Raffaello Soprani con note di Carlo Giuseppe Ratti
vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti genovesi
Tomo I, Stamperia Casamara, Genova, 1768, pag. 332 e pag. 468-469 They span a period of over 20 years. Ansaldo's works are typical of the Genoese eclecticism of the early 17th century, influenced by Flemish artists such as

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

and

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

and the Milanese

Giovanni Battista Crespi Giovanni Battista Crespi (23 December 1573 – 23 October 1632), called Il Cerano, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. Biography He was born in Romagnano Sesia, the son of a painter, Raffaele Crespi, and moved to Cerano with his f ...

Giulio Cesare Procaccini Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574–1625) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the early Baroque era in Milan. Biography Born in Bologna he was son of the Mannerist painter Ercole Procaccini the Elder and brother of Camillo Procaccini and Car ...

and ''il Morazzone''. Ansaldo was responsible for the fresco decoration of the cupola of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato of Genova, completed during 1635–1638, just before his death. His ''Annunciation'' fresco is considered the first true Baroque painting in the city. Through a complex

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

view, it reproduces the interior of a Greek Cross planned church, with Mary ascending to heaven being awaited by the Holy Father in the centre of the dome. Altarpieces from Ansaldo were commissioned for the Cathedral of Segovia. A ''Deposition'' is presently housed in the Accademia Linguistica of Genoa.

References

External links

* * * *Camillo Manzitti, "Andrea Ansaldo", in "Paragone" n. 267, Maggio 1972. *Franco Boggero (a cura di), Un pittore genovese del Seicento, Andrea Ansaldo, 1584–1638, restauro e confronti, catalogo della mostra Genova, Commenda di San Giovanni di Pré - 25 gennaio/3 marzo 1985, Genova, 1985. 1584 births 1638 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Genoa Italian Baroque painters Trompe-l'œil artists Artists from the Republic of Genoa {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub