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Federico Zuccari

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Federico Zuccaro
Portrait of Federico Zuccaro by Fede Galizia, 1604
Bornc. 1540/1541
Sant'Angelo in Vado
Died(1609-07-20)July 20, 1609 or (1609-08-06)August 6, 1609 (sources vary) (aged 67–69)
Known for
  • Painting
  • architecture
Movement

Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari and Federigo Zucchero (c. 1540/1541 – Unknown), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and Spain.

Biography

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Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino (Marche), then in the He was born in the Duchy of Urbino. His parents were the painter Ottaviano de Zucharellis, who changed his surname changed to Zuccaro in 1569, and Antonia Neri. He was the third child of eight. His siblings were called Taddeo, Bartolomea, Federico, Iacopo, Lucio, Maurizio, Aloysio, and Marco Antonio.[1]

His documented career as a painter began in 1550, when he moved to Rome to work under his elder brother Taddeo. He went on to complete decorations for Pius IV, and help complete the fresco decorations at the Villa Farnese at Caprarola. Between 1563 and 1565, he was active in Venice with the Grimani family of Santa Maria Formosa. During his Venetian period, he traveled alongside Palladio in Friuli. He was involved in the following fresco projects:

The Gate of Virtue

Another picture in the same collection appears to be a replica of his painting of the "Allegory of Calumny". The satire used in the original painting and directed at some of his enemies at cour, was the immediate cause of Zuccaro's temporary exile from Rome. Zuccaro was recalled to Rome by Pope Gregory XIII to continue his work in the Pauline chapel of the Vatican.

On 22 June 1573 he set out, in the service of Cardinal Charles of Guise, for Paris where he arrived on 24 August 1573. From Paris he travelled on 14 August 1574 to Antwerp where he arrived on six days later. He visited Brussels, where he prepated a series of cartoons for the tapestry-weavers. On 16 March 1575 he left Antwerp for England, where he stayed until 8 August 1575. In England he received a commission from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester to portray himself and Queen Elizabeth.[4] He also painted Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Francis Walsingham, Lord High Admiral Howard.[5]. Of the portraits of both only the drawings are preserved, dated “1575” and “in london magio 1575.” On his return trip to Italy he stopped over in Antwerp from 18 to 30 August.

Calumny, c. 1570

He painted a portrait of a Man with Two Dogs in the Pitti Palace (Florence), and the Dead Christ and Angels in the Galleria Borghese (Rome). In 1585, he accepted an offer by Philip II of Spain to decorate the new Escorial at a yearly salary of 2,000 crowns. He worked at the palace from January 1586 to end of 1588, when he returned to Rome. His paintings (like those of El Greco before him) were disliked by Philip II and many were painted over. However the parting was amicable: "We must not blame him, but those who sent him to us", said Philip.[6] He was succeeded by Pellegrino Tibaldi. He there founded in 1595, under a charter confirmed by Pope Sixtus V, the Accademia di San Luca, of which he was the first president.[5] Bartolomeo Carducci is said to have studied with him. Between 1602 and 1604 he frescoed the hall of the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia together with Cesare Nebbia, a work commissioned by Cardinal Federico Borromeo.[7][8]

Harrowing of the Lustful

Like Giorgio Vasari a generation before, Zuccaro also published books on art and art history.[5] His principal book, L'idea de' Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti (1607), was far less popular than that of Vasari.

Zuccaro was raised to the rank of cavaliere not long before his death in Ancona in 1609.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Maddalena Spagnolo, ZUCCARI, Federico, in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 100 (2020)
  2. ^ Shulman, Ken (3 December 1989). "ART: On the Scaffolds, a Delicate Labor in the Duomo". New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  3. ^ Berti, Federico (2013), Domenico Cresti, il Passignano,"fra la natione fiorentina e veneziana": Viatico per il periodo giovanile con una inedita Sacra Famiglia, Florence: De Stijl Art Publishing, p. 18, ISBN 978-88-904451-3-2
  4. ^ Goldring, Elizabeth: "The Earl of Leicester's Inventory of Kenilworth Castle, c.1578", English Heritage Historical Review, Vol. 2, 2007, p. 38
  5. ^ a b c d  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Middleton, John Henry (1911). "Zuccaro". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1047.
  6. ^ Trevor-Roper, Hugh; Princes and Artists, Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts 1517-1633, Thames & Hudson, London, 1976, p 69
  7. ^ "Visit the College". Almo Collegio Borromeo Pavia. Collegio Borromeo. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Collegio Borromeo - complesso Pavia (PV)". Lombardia Beni Culturali. Regione Lombardia. Retrieved 23 September 2022.

Further reading

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Media related to Federico Zuccari at Wikimedia Commons

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