Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli

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The Martyrdom of Saints Secunda and Rufina. Collaborative painting by Il Morazzone, Giulio Cesare Procaccini, and Giovanni Battista Crespi (1620-1625).

Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (1573-1626) (commonly known as il Morazzone) was an Italian painter of the early Baroque era in Milan.

Francesco had moved from Rome, where he lived from c 1592-8) to Milan by the year 1600. He was the son and younger brother of Bolognese painters, respectively Ercole Mazzucchelli Il Giovane and of the capable Mannerist Camillo Cesare. He is also likely related to Carlo Antonio Mazzucchelli. In Rome, he either worked under or was influenced by Ventura Salimbeni and the studio of Cavalier d'Arpino.

In Rome he painted frescoes San Silvestro in Capite. In Lombardy, he often painted frescoes for a series of chapels constitued as Sacro Monte, including the Cappella del Rosario in Santa Vittore at Varese, and in the Ascent to Calvary (1605) and Ecce Homo (1608-13) chapels in Sacro Monte in Varallo. He also painted frescoes of the Flagellation for chapels in Varese and others in Sacro Monte at Orta.

Collaborated on some works with Giovanni Battista Crespi (Il Cerano) and Giulio Cesare Procaccini in the painting of the Quadrone of San Carlo Borromeo for the Duomo of Milan. He also painted for dome in Piacenza and chapel in San Gaudenzia at Novara. His work was influenced by Gaudenzio Ferrrari. Morazzone may have been an early influence on Francisco del Cairo.