Scipione Pulzone (1544 – February 1, 1598), also known as Il Gaetano, was a
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
painter of the late
Italian Renaissance. His work differs in several respects from the
Mannerist style predominant at the time. He was active mainly in
Rome, but also worked in
Naples and
Florence. It is thought that he studied under
Jacopino del Conte
Jacopino del Conte (1510–1598; also spelled ''Iacopino'') was an Italian Mannerist painter, active in both Rome and Florence.
A native of Florence, Jacopino del Conte was born the same year as another Florentine master Cecchino del Sal ...
in Rome.
Best known for his portraits, Pulzone painted
Pope Gregory XIII, Cardinal de' Medici and
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany,
Eleanor de' Medici
Eleanor de' Medici (28 February 1567 – 9 September 1611) was a List of Mantuan consorts, Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Vincenzo I Gonzaga. She served as regent of Mantua 1595, 1597 and 1601, when Vincenzo served in the Austrian campaign in ...
, and
Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
. He also painted an ''Assumption with the Apostles'' for
San Silvestro al Quirinale; a ''Pietà'' for the
Gesù; and a ''Crucifixion'' for
Santa Maria in Vallicella.
Pulzone's ''Mater Divinae Providentiae'', painted around 1580, inspired the Roman Catholic cult of devotion to
Our Lady of Providence.
Biography
Born in
Gaeta
Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples.
The town has played a consp ...
around 1550 and initially trained in the workshop of Jacopino del Conte, Pulzone was one of the most original pictorial interpreters of the age of the Counter Reformation and one of the most esteemed artists active in Rome in the second half of the 16th century. Many of his works, and especially the religious paintings, betray the marked influence of
Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta. He excelled above all in portraiture, displaying particularly high artistic quality in the rendering of details. He worked at the Neapolitan and Florentine courts as well as in Rome, where he also painted the portraits of the popes of his day, namely
Pius V and
Gregory XIII. His major religious works included the ''Our Lady of the Assumption'' in the church of
San Silvestro al Quirinale and the ''Christ on the Cross with Saints'' in
Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome.
Pulzone died in Rome in 1598.
References
*
* Domenico Sedini
Scipione Pulzone online catalogu
Artgateby
Fondazione Cariplo, 2010, CC BY-SA (source for biography)
*
External links
''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi'' a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Scipione Pulzone (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulzone, Scipione
1550s births
1598 deaths
16th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
Italian Mannerist painters
People from Gaeta
Year of birth unknown
Catholic painters