Giuseppe Bazzani

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.

Anthology

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]

References