Scarsellino - Driving of the merchants from the temple - Google Art Project

Scarsellino or Ippolito Scarsella (1550 (or 1551) – 28 October 1620) was an Italian mid-to-late sixteenth century reformist painter and one of the most important representatives of the

School of Ferrara The School of Ferrara was a group of painters which flourished in the Duchy of Ferrara during the Renaissance. Ferrara was ruled by the Este family, well known for its patronage of the arts. Patronage was extended with the ascent of Ercole d'Este ...

. His landscapes of both sacred and secular themes strongly anticipate the landscape painting traditions of the 17th century.Scarsellino (Ippolito Scarsella), ''Nymphs at the Bath''
at the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

Life

Ippolito Scarsella was born and died in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

. His father was the lesser-known painter Sigismondo Scarsella, who was particularly skilled as an architect. Scarsellino traveled and worked extensively across Italy, encountering many influences.Veronique Damien, ''Quatre nouveaux tableaux génois de Strozzi, Castiglione, Piola et Baciccio''
Galerie Canesso, Paris, 2013, p. 8-11 He lived in Venice for four years around 1570. The exact date is not known. He reportedly trained in Venice in the studio of

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

. Scarsellino worked alongside the brothers

Carracci The Carracci ( , , {{IPA, it, karˈrattʃi, lang) were a family of Italian artists. Notable members include: * the three members who worked together and are known collectively as the Carracci, i.e.: ** Agostino Carracci (1557–1602), Italian pa ...

in the

Palazzo dei Diamanti Palazzo dei Diamanti is a Renaissance palace located on Corso Ercole I d'Este 21 in Ferrara, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The main floor of the Palace houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara (National Painting Gallery of Ferrara). History T ...

. As can be observed from their works, the Ferrarese artist and the Bolognese painters exhibited a reciprocal influence upon one another. To name just one of many examples, Ludovico Carracci's 1616 ''Martyrdom of Saint Margaret'' for the Church of San Maurizio in Mantua takes its inspiration from Scarsellino's painting of the same subject, executed five years prior for the Oratory of Saint Margaret in Ferrara.Ugo Ruggeri. "Scarsellino." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 February 2017 One of Scarsellino's most important pupils was Costanzo Cattani.

Work

Scarsellino was an easel painter as well as a fresco artist. He often painted the same subject with variations, in a range of different formats and supports. His early works show the influences of various contemporary styles. Initially he was inspired by the elegant figures of

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, ...

(1503–1540), which were introduced in Ferrara by

Girolamo da Carpi Girolamo Da Carpi (1501 – 1 August 1556) was an Italian painter and decorator who worked at the Court of the House of Este in Ferrara. He began painting in Ferrara, by report apprenticing to Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo); but by age 20, he h ...

(1501 – ). He later set himself apart from this intellectual and highly formal vision of Mannerism by turning towards the magical, mood-driven world of

Dosso Dossi Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542) was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early Tit ...

. During his stay in Venice he was introduced to the late works of

Giorgione Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (; 1470s – 17 September 1510), known as Giorgione, was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, ...

and those of Veronese and

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

, which were an important influence on his work. A number of his works are in the collection of the

Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...

in Rome, ''The Bathing Venus'', ''Diana and Endymion'' and ''Venus and Adonis''. Two of his paintings were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden at the end of World War II: ''Flight into Egypt'' and ''Holy Family at Work''.

Selected works

*''The Way to Calvary'' (

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

) *''The Martyrdom of Saint Venanatius of Camerino'' (Houston) *''Fame Conquering Time'' (

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

, Hartford). *''Virgin Adored by Saints'' (1609;

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York) *''Landscape with Abraham and Isaac'' (

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Cambridge) *''Apollo'' (MFA, San Francisco) *''Madonna with Saints'' (c1600; MFA, Houston) *''Adoration of the Magi'' (c1600,

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums () are a group of art and archaeology, archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, facing ...

, Rome) *Allegorical Scene ( Pinacoteca Nazionale, Ferrara) *''Saint Demetrius'' (Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

) *''Virgin and Angels Imploring Christ not to Punish Lust, Avarice, and Pride'' (Pinacoteca,

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 ...

) *''Judgment of Paris'' (

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of ...

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 ...

)

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-217520 , title=Landscape with Abraham and Isaac, by Scarsellino 1550s births 1620 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Ferrara Italian Mannerist painters

Life

Work

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links