Simone Cantarini
(1612 - 1648) |
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Altarpieces, Fresco Commissions Art Work
| Name: |
Simone Cantarini |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Pesaro |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1612 |
| Death: |
1648 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Altarpieces, Fresco Commissions |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
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Biography
| Simone Cantarini,trained with local Pesaro artists notably Giovanni Giacomo Gandolfi, Cantarini also briefly apprenticed with the Veronese painter Claudio Ridolfi, and likely went to Venice before going to Bologna in 1634. Reni's impact on Cantarini actually predated his arrival in Bologna. When Reni's altarpiece The Virgin and Child with SS. Thomas and Jerome dated 1632 arrived in Pesaro, it so impressed the young artist that he traveled to Fano in 1633 and copied Reni's paintings in S. Pietro. That same year Cantarini was likely commissioned for St. Peter Healing the Lame Man, placed in the same chapel in S. Pietro in Valle where Reni paintings hung. The following year 1634 Cantarini attached himself to Reni's studio. Early sources claim Cantarini's arrogance caused a break with Reni three years later 1637. We know he was in Pesaro in 1639 whence his St. James in Glory, Rimini, Pinacoteca Communale probably dates and he is recorded in Rome by 1641. There he reportedly secretly studied Raphael and the antique masters, though the necessity for secrecy is doubtful. He returned to Bologna upon Reni's death in 1642, where he worked largely for private patrons. Cantarini's trip to Mantua to paint the portrait of the Marchese Gonzaga was, a disaster owing to Cantarini's personality. He succumbed to an illness some say poisoning which impelled him to go to Verona to seek a cure. He died there in 1648. Cantarini absorbed many lessons from Reni but retained a greater inclination for natural detail in his work. If the portrait of Reni in the Bologna Pinacoteca is by Cantarini, then he also proves himself a skilled and sympathetic observer of humanity. Cantarini's work is sometimes confused with Reni's and sold under the better known master's name. Despite Cantarini's untimely death at age thirtysix, a considerable oeuvre reflects his fifteen years of activity. Besides paintings, Cantarini produced a large and vigorous body of drawings and etchings. |
Samples of Work
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