Description
The artist, Giulio Romano, also known as Giulio Pippi and Giulio Dei Giannuzzi, began his career as a painter and architect as a pupil and protégé of Raphael, assisting him in the Vatican. His style blended modern sensibilities with the forms of classical art. The monumental fresco and architectural projects he created were his crowning achievement, and his drawings were admired for their facility by his contemporaries, a reputation that continues to this day. While in Rome, he painted frescoes of mythological subjects in the Farnese Palace and elsewhere. He and Gianfranceso Penni were entrusted with the completion of Raphael’s unfinished frescoes in the Sala di Costantino in the Vatican in Raphael’s will. In 1524, Romano entered the service of Federigo Gonzalez in Mantua and was the architect for the Palazzo del Tè, one of the great examples of Mannerist architecture and decoration. There, with several assistants, he decorated the interior with frescoes, including his greatest work, Defeat of the Giants. He also painted frescoes in the Ducal Palace of Mantua and in cathedrals and churches. His easel paintings are in the collections throughout Europe, including the Uffizi and Pitti Palace in Florence, the Louvre in Paris, and other major Italian museums.
Serafino Cesaretti was a 19th century Italian painter and engraver.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall toning, minor wear, soiling in margins. Minor abrasions or scratches to paint. Paper tone varies slightly on the two prints.
References:
Ashby, Alicia. Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean, ed. “Ceres, the Goddess of Grain.” 28 November 2001. Roanoke College. http://students.roanoke.edu/groups/relg211/ashby/Ceres.html (26 April 2005).
“Giulio Romano (Pippi).” The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000. Artnet.com. http://www.artnet.com/library/03/0326/T032677.asp (7 April 2004).
Williamson, George C., ed. Bryan ‘s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. London: G. Bell and Sons: 1930. Vol. 2. pp. 31-32.