Giuseppe Bazzani (23 September 1690 – 17 August 1769) was an Italian painter of the Rococo.
Born in Mantua to a goldsmith, Giovanni Bazzani, early on he apprenticed with the Parmesan painter Giovanni Canti (1653-1715). A fellow pupil was Francesco Maria Raineri. He spent most of his life in Mantua. From 1752, he was faculty, and from 1767, director of the Accademia di Belle Arti of Mantua.
While esconced in a declining provincial city, he absorbed international influences. His loose brushstrokes, fervid often dark emotionalism, and tortured poses, which recall at times later expressionism, display stylistic tendencies more typical of Lombardy. Numerous artists, including Fetti, Bencovich, Rubens, and Magnasco are said to have influenced him, although the number and diversity of the artists suggested hints that he had an idiosyncratic and unique synthesis for his time.
Among his early works are paintings of the Miracles of Pius V, the Conversion of a Heretic and the Healing of a Madwoman (all mid-1720s; Mantua, Museum of the Ducal Palace of Mantua), initially painted for the church of Saint Maurizio in Mantua. He painted depictions of the evangelists St. John, St. Mark and St. Luke (all late 1720s) for the parish church of Vasto di Goito. He painted the Baptism, the Ecstasy of St. Aloysius Gonzaga and the Ecstasy of Saints Francis & Anthony (1732) for the parish church of Borgoforte. Seven canvases depicting the Life of Alexander the Great were painted for Giacomo Biondi, one of the artist's early patrons.
Label | Work | Date | Site | Link |
---|---|---|---|---|
a. | Via Crucis | San Barnaba, Mantua | ||
b. | Via Crucis | parish church, Cavriana | ||
c. | History of Alexander the Great | c. 1740 | Palazzo d'Arco, Mantua | |
d. | Baptism of Christ | c. 1732 | Parish church, Borgoforte | |
e. | Ecstasy of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga | c. 1729 | Parish church, Borgoforte | |
f. | Baptism of Christ | c. 1737 | San Giovanni del Dosso, Mantua | |
g. | Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter | 1739 | Parish Church, Goito | |
h. | Sermon of the Baptist | c. 1740 | parish church, Gazoldo degli Ippoliti | |
i. | Doubting Thomas | c. 1742 | Private collection | |
j. | Adoration by the Magi | |||
k. | Madonna with St. Clare & Annunciation | 1751-52 | Parish church, Revere | |
l. | Miracles of Pius V | 1752 | San Maurizio, Mantua | |
m. | Ovals in private collections | Mantua and Bologna | ||
n. | Ovals of the Miracle of the Rosary | originally, parish church of Cavriana | ||
o. | Canvases | Santa Maria della Carita, Mantua | ||
p. | Ovals for the ceiling of St. Barnaba | c. 1768 | San Paolo, Mantua | |
q. | St. Margaret of Cortona | 1764 | Prampolini-Tirelli collection | |
r. | Saint Anthony of Padua with the Infant Christ | c. 1745 | National Gallery, London | [1] |
s. | Pieta with Mary Magdalen | c. 1750 | Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA | [2] |
t. | Incredulity of St. Thomas | 1730 | Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona, USA | [3] |
u. | Departure of Prodigal Son | 1750 | Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City | [4] |
v. | The Tribute Money | MacKenzie Art Gallery, Saskatchewan | [5] | |
w. | The Tribute Money | 1742 | San Diego Museum of Art, California, USA | |
x. | Rest in Flight to Egypt | Accademia, Venice | ||
y. | The Daughter of Jephte | Louvre, Paris | [6] | |
z. | The walk to Mount Calvary | Louvre, Paris | [7] | |
aa. | Deposition from the Cross | [8] | ||
bb. | The Ecstasy of St Theresa | 1745 | [9] | |
cc. | Agony of Christ in the Garden | Uffizi Gallery, Florence | ||
dd. | Santa Margarita da Cortona | 1740 | Galleria della Fondazione Banca Agricola Mantovana, Mantua | [10] |
dd. | St. Longinus, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Elena with the relice of the precious blood | 1740 | ibid | [11] |