Prospero Orsi, also referred to as Prosperino delle Grottesche (1560s–1630s) was an Italian painter of the late-

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 ...

and early-

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 ...

period, active mainly in

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, ...

Biography

He apparently trained under Giuseppe Cesari d’Arpino. Baglione recounts that during the papacy of

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

, Prospero was one of the many artists that decorated the

Scala Sancta The (, ) are a set of 28 white marble steps located in an edifice on extraterritorial property of the Holy See in Rome, Italy proximate to the Archbasilica of Saint John in Laterano. Officially, the edifice is titled the Pontifical Sanctuary ...

walls and ceilings with frescoes. He worked on the depiction of ''Moses parting the Sea'' and ''Isaac blessing Jacob''. In the benediction loggia of San Giovanni Laterano, he depicted an episode in the ''Life of Constantine''. He also worked painting in the Vatican libraries. He is described as an avid painter of Grotteseques. He also worked with Antonio Circignani to decorate a room in the Palazzo Antici-Mattei in Rome. While he initially was a close follower of the Cavaliere d’Arpino, he later became allied with Michelangelo da Caravaggio. Orsi and Cherubino Alberti, were among those who helped bail Caravaggio out of prison in 1605. Baglione states:''Ma dopo alcun tempo, no so per qual cagione, divennegli poco amorevole, e fu uno de’ Turcimanni di Michelangelo da Caravaggio, e di esser contrario al Cavaliere egli al possible si affaticava.'' From Le vite by Baglione and Passari, page 188.

''That after some time, I know not for what reason, they (Orsi and Arpino) came to have little affection, and he (Orsi) became one of the
Dragoman A dragoman was an Interpreter (communication), interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish language, Turkish-, Arabic language, Arabic-, and Persian language, Persian-speaking countries and polity, polities of the Middle East and ...
(translator for the exotic and foreign) of Michelangelo da Caravaggio, and was contrary to the Cavaliere as much as possible when he worked.''

His date of birth is unclear, Baglione describes him as young (20-30s?) during the papacy of Sixtus V (1585-1590), and as having died at the age of 75 during the papacy of Urban VIII (1623-1644). His first works documented are with Galeazzo Ghidoni in decorating the Castel Sant’Angelo in 1582. Mancini in 1620 describes him as in his 50s. This all suggests a birth in early 1560s, and death after 1630.

References

16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters Italian Mannerist painters Caravaggisti Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub