Niccolò Circignani (c. 1517/1524 – after 1596) was an Italian painter of the late-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

period.

Biography

Born in

Pomarance Pomarance is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italy, Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about 60 km southeast of Pisa. Pomarance borders the following municipalities: Casole d'Elsa, Cast ...

, he is one of three Italian painters called Pomarancio. His first works are documented from the 1560s, where he painted frescos on the Old Testament stories for the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

, where he may have worked alongside

Santi di Tito Santi di Tito (5 December 1536 – 25 July 1603) was one of the most influential and leading Italian painters of the proto-Baroque style – what is sometimes referred to as "Counter-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism. Biography He was born in Sa ...

and Giovanni de' Vecchi. He also completed altarpieces for

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

(1570),

Umbertide Umbertide () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Perugia, in the Italian region of Umbria, at the confluence of the Reggia river and the Tiber. It is 30 km (19 mi) north of Perugia and 20 km (12 mi) south ...

(1572),

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. T ...

(1573–1577) as well as

Città della Pieve Città della Pieve is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located in Valdichiana a few kilometres from the border between Umbria and Tuscany, and about southwest of Perugia and southeast of Chiusi ...

. He worked at

Orvieto Cathedral Orvieto Cathedral () is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 1986, the cathedral in Orvieto has been the episcopal seat ...

with

Hendrick van den Broeck Hendrick van den Broeck or Arrigo Fiammingo (c. 1530 – 28 September 1597) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter, fresco painter, glass painter and sculptor of the late-Renaissance or Mannerism, Mannerist period. After training in Flanders, ...

, a brother of the sculptor Willem van den Broecke and a relative of the painter

Chrispijn van den Broeck Chrispijn van den Broeck (1523 – c. 1591) was a Flemings, Flemish painter, draughtsman, print designer and designer of temporary decorations.

. He painted frescoes (1568) in the church of the ''Maestà delle Volte'' in

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, the ''Resurrection'' (1569 in

Panicale Panicale is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria. Located on the eastern slope of Mount Petrarvella, in the southeast of Valdichiana, it overlooks Lake Trasimeno and is about 35 km from Perugia. As ...

) and an ''Annunciation'' (1577, now in the

Pinacoteca Comunale, Città di Castello The Pinacoteca Comunale of Città di Castello is the main museum of paintings and arts of Umbria Italian Region, alongside the Perugia's National gallery, and it's housed in a renaissance palace, generally preserved in its original form. History ...

). He painted frescoes (starting 1574) on mythologic themes including a ''Judgement of Paris'', ''Stories from the Aenid'', and others, in collaboration with Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi in the ''Palazzo della Corgna'' in

Castiglione del Lago Castiglione del Lago is a town in the province of Perugia of Umbria (central Italy), on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is south, Chiusi is to the south west, Arezzo is to the north west, Cortona is to the north, and Perugia is ...

. From 1579 he returned to Rome to work with

Matthijs Bril Matthijs Bril or Matthijs Bril the Younger (1550 – 8 June 1583) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman of landscapes. He spent most of his active career in Rome where his drawings of ancient Roman sites played an important role in the developme ...

and decorated the ''Sala della Meridiana'' in the ''Torre dei Venti'' (finished before the end of 1580) as well as in the Loggie (1580–83) in the Vatican. He then became one of the artists favored by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. Assisted by

Matteo da Siena Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escend ...

, he began depicting scenes of Jesuit martyrdom. He was further commissioned such works, depicting church martyrs, with help from

Antonio Tempesta Antonio Tempesta, also called il Tempestino (1555 – 5 August 1630), was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Roman Baroque, Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. Much of his work depicts major ba ...

for the church of

Santo Stefano Rotondo The Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round on the Caelian Hill (, ) is an ancient basilica and titular church in Rome, Italy. Commonly named Santo Stefano Rotondo, the church is Hungary's "national church" in Rome, dedicated to both Saint Stephen, ...

. Here he finally completed over thirty graphic scenes of martyrdom, depicting every gruesome method as if it were an advertisement for a torture chamber. Visitors like

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

expressed horror at the spectacle in this church, calling it a:S. Stefano Rotondo, in Thayer's Guide to Roman Churches
UChicago.edu. Accessed 9 August 2023.

''"damp, mildewed vault of an old church in the outskirts of Rome, ... by reason of the hideous paintings with which its walls are covered. These represent the martyrdoms of saints and early Christians; and such a panorama of horror and butchery no man could imagine in his sleep, though he were to eat a whole pig raw, for supper. Grey-bearded men being boiled, fried, grilled, crimped, singed, eaten by wild beasts, worried by dogs, buried alive, torn asunder by horses, chopped up small with hatchets: women having their breasts torn with iron pinchers, their tongues cut out, their ears screwed off, their jaws broken, their bodies stretched upon the rack, or skinned upon the stake, or crackled up and melted in the fire: these are among the mildest subjects."''

Circignani's last documented painting, in Cascia, is from 1596.

Sources

External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Circignani, Niccolo 1530s births 1590s deaths People from Pomarance 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Mannerist painters Fresco painters