Teodoro Ghisi (1536–1601) was an Italian painter and engraver of the

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 ...

Period, mainly active in his native

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. He specialized in paintings of animal and nature scenes. Teodoro was known mostly for his drawings and illustration of animals. His brother

Giorgio Ghisi Giorgio Ghisi (1520 — 15 December 1582) was an Italian engraver from Mantua who also worked in Antwerp and in France. He made both prints and damascened metalwork, although only two surviving examples of the latter are known. He worked in ...

, was a well-known engraver. Teodoro was a custodian of the Duchal summer house known as the

Palazzo del Te , or simply , is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is an example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Name The palace is mostly referred to by English-speaking writers, especia ...

in Mantua. The Duke's extensive natural history collection attracted a visit in 1571 from

Ulisse Aldrovandi Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history stud ...

, for whom he executed some animal paintings, including those of two parrots. At around the same time he created the designs for Giorgio's engravings of ''Venus and Adonis'' and ''

Angelica and Medoro Angelica and Medoro was a popular subject for Romantic painters, composers and writers from the 16th until the 19th century. Angelica and Medoro are two characters from the 16th-century Italian epic ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Angel ...

''. In 1576 he and Giorgio acquired a house in Mantua, where Teodoro worked for Dukes

Guglielmo Gonzaga Guglielmo Gonzaga (24 April 1538 – 14 August 1587) was Duke of Mantua from 1550 to 1587, and of Montferrat from 1574 to 1587. He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat. In 1574, Montfe ...

and Vincenzo I. Between 1579 and 1581 he contributed to the decoration of the ''Galleria dei Mesi'' in the

Palazzo Ducale Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...

and probably worked with

Lorenzo Costa the younger Lorenzo Costa the Younger (1537–1583) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active in his native city of Mantua. Lorenzo was the son of Girolamo Costa and grandson of Lorenzo Costa, and was instructed in the art of painting by his ...

in the ''Sala dello Zodiaco'' there. Around 1579 he executed a ''Visitation'' for the cathedral at

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Roman Catholic titular see People ...

, and in 1586-7 he worked in the ''Palazzo di Goito'' (destr.). From 1587 to 1590 he was

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to Guglielmo Gonzaga's brother-in-law Archduke Charles II of Austria (1564–90), in

Seckau Seckau () is a Marktgemeinde in the state of Styria, Austria. It is situated near Knittelfeld. It is known for the Benedictine Seckau Abbey, once the seat of the bishopric Graz-Seckau. See also * Diocese of Graz-Seckau References Diocese of Se ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, where he painted the altarpiece ''Symbolum apostolorum'' (1588; Graz, Alte Gallery), showing the creation of Eve surrounded by depictions of articles of the

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

. He received a life pension from the Archduke in 1589 but returned to Mantua in 1590. There, he and Ippolito Andreasi decorated the cathedral for Bishop Francesco Gonzaga, with frescos that accorded with the dictates of the Counter-Reformation. The evangelists' animal symbols attest to Teodoro's continuing interest in nature. He indulged this further in his illustrations for

Pietro Candido Decembrio Pietro (also known as Pier and Piero) Candido Decembrio (in Latin, Petrus Candidus Decembrius) (1399–1477) was an Italian humanist and author of the Renaissance, and one of those involved in the rediscovery of ancient literature. Life The son ...

's ''De animantium naturis''.Rome, Vatican, Bib. Apostolica, MS. Urb. lat. 276) In general his work is more realistic than imaginative.

References

External links

''The engravings of Giorgio Ghisi''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Teodoro Ghisi (see index) 1536 births Italian engravers 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Artists from Mantua Italian painters of animals 1601 deaths Italian court painters Italian Mannerist painters People from the Duchy of Mantua {{Italy-painter-16thC-stub