Piero di Cosimo
(1462 - 1521) |
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Imaginative, idiosyncratic, lyrical and poetic Christian and pagan subjects and portraits; masterful painting of animals and landscape; subtle, evocative depiction of light and atmospheric conditions Art Work
| Name: |
Piero di Cosimo |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Florence, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1462 |
| Death: |
1521 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Imaginative, idiosyncratic, lyrical and poetic Christian and pagan subjects and portraits; masterful painting of animals and landscape; subtle, evocative depiction of light and atmospheric conditions |
| Medium: |
oil |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
Italian Renaissance |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
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Biography
| Florentine painter Piero di Cosimo had a lasting influence on the development of the arts in Florence, and in particular on the work of Fra Bartolomeo, Mariotto Albertinelli, Jacopo Pontormo, and Andrea del Sarto. His treatment of landscape was virtually unequaled and was of importance for successive artists, as was his quirky, poetic, and inspired treatment of both Christian and mythological subjects. He is also depicted as one of the most interesting and eccentric characters of his period by the eminent biographer Giorgio Vasari. Di Cosimo trained under Cosimo Rosselti, from whom he eventually took his name, and traveled with the older artist to Rome in 1481. There he worked on the landscape background of Rosselli's fresco Sermon on the Mount 1481 in the Sistine Chapel. By the late 1480s di Cosimo was working independently and forging his own style, defined by his subtle and moving treatment of light and atmosphere, his extraordinary rendering of landscape, and his frequent inclusion of animals that he painted with great understanding and realism. He worked most often in tempera on panel, although he also used oils, he used primarily pen and ink for his drawings and sketches. According to Vasari, di Cosimo was highly temperamental, irritated by flies and screaming children, averse to cleaning, and lived on a diet of hard boiled eggs, which he cooked while boiling his glue. Primary influences through his career were those of Leonardo da Vinci, Filippino Lippi, and Luca Signorelli, although he retained the significantly imaginative and characteristic approach that makes his paintings so recognizable. The Death of Procris 1500-1510, with its soulful dog and lyrical landscape, is among his most famous works. |
Samples of Work
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