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Carlo Cesare Malvasia
Carlo Cesare Malvasia (18 December 1616 – 9 March 1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled Felsina pittrice, published in 1678. Together with his contemporary Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Malvasia is considered "among the best informed and most intelligent historians and critics of art who ever lived."
Carlo Cesare Malvasia was born on 18 December 1616 to Anton-Galeazzo Malvasia, a member of the lesser nobility who held the title of count (which his son was to inherit), and a certain Caterina, described only as "a woman of low degree but his legitimate wife." The young man studied poetry under Cesare Rinaldi, a renowned baroque poet, and he also studied music. He wrote poetry while still a boy and learned to play several musical instruments. He received cursory training in painting under Giacinto Campana and Giacomo Cavedone. Later, under the guidance of a noted jurist, Claudio Achillini (1575–1640), he studied law and took his degree at the University of Bologna in December of 1638.
Shortly after graduating he moved to Rome where he remained active in both law and literature. He belonged to two literary societies, the Accademia degli Umoristi and the Accademia dei Fantastici. In this last he served as principe or president. He became friends with Cardinal Bernardino Spada and the sculptor Alessandro Algardi.
While he was still in Rome a small-scale war broke out between the Farnese, one of Italy's most powerful families, and the Barberini, whose family was headed by Urban VIII, the reigning pope. Both sides contested for Castro, the largest dukedom inside the boundaries of the Papal States. Malvasia at once enlisted on the side of the pope. He fought with valor in a brigade commanded by his cousin, the Marchese Cornelio Malvasia, leader of the Papal Army cavalry.
After the end of the War of Castro, Malvasia became gravely ill. Probably about this time, in the early 1640s, he returned to Bologna, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. On his recovery from his unnamed illness he studied for and entered the priesthood. He obtained a theology degree in 1653, and in 1662 was appointed a canon of the Cathedral of Bologna, a position of considerable prestige. He also continued his interest in literary matters and was an active member of the Accademia dei Gelati, the most important Bolognese literary society. Nevertheless, his principal career was to be in the law. In 1647, when he was only thirty-one years old, he was made professor of law at the University of Bologna, a post he held for forty years. The many tracts he published on legal matters spread his fame and brought him offers to join the faculties of other universities, those of Padua and Pavia included, but he preferred not to leave his native city.
To the already considerable list of his skills should be added an ability to paint and draw. These arts he studied under Giacomo Cavedone (1577-1660), a pupil of the Carracci, and while he practiced them for his diversion only, we know that he painted a number of frescoes, apparently landscape scenes and "perspectives," both in his own villa and in those of friends.
He knew many artists well. Guido Reni, whom he admired enormously, was an especially close friend. For many younger artists he was a benefactor. At his own expense he set up an art academy to teach aspiring painters to draw from nude Luigi Crespi tells us of his help for struggling young artists, some of whom would otherwise have had to leave the profession. It is also to Malvasia's great merit that he recognized the talent of Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665) and, overcoming the resistance of her father, saw to it that she received training as a painter. As a result, despite the fact that death ended her career when she was only twenty-seven years old, she enjoys a secure place in the history of Bolognese art.
Malvasia was also a collector and acted as an agent for Louis XIV in acquisition of Bolognese artworks for the royal collections. He dedicated the Felsina pittrice to Louis XIV. Sun King did not fail to show his gratitude to Carlo Cesare by sending him the famous “Gioiello della Vita”, a small but very precious jewel. Written in the tradition of Giorgio Vasari’s Vite (1550) but without Vasari’s belief in the supremacy of Florentine and Tuscan painting, Malvasia's Felsina promotes a new and passionate appreciation of Bolognese art, championing the originality and diversity of Bolognese painters on the basis of painstakingly collected data and documents. Malvasia died in Bologna on 9 March in 1693.
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Carlo Cesare Malvasia
Carlo Cesare Malvasia (18 December 1616 – 9 March 1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled Felsina pittrice, published in 1678. Together with his contemporary Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Malvasia is considered "among the best informed and most intelligent historians and critics of art who ever lived."
Carlo Cesare Malvasia was born on 18 December 1616 to Anton-Galeazzo Malvasia, a member of the lesser nobility who held the title of count (which his son was to inherit), and a certain Caterina, described only as "a woman of low degree but his legitimate wife." The young man studied poetry under Cesare Rinaldi, a renowned baroque poet, and he also studied music. He wrote poetry while still a boy and learned to play several musical instruments. He received cursory training in painting under Giacinto Campana and Giacomo Cavedone. Later, under the guidance of a noted jurist, Claudio Achillini (1575–1640), he studied law and took his degree at the University of Bologna in December of 1638.
Shortly after graduating he moved to Rome where he remained active in both law and literature. He belonged to two literary societies, the Accademia degli Umoristi and the Accademia dei Fantastici. In this last he served as principe or president. He became friends with Cardinal Bernardino Spada and the sculptor Alessandro Algardi.
While he was still in Rome a small-scale war broke out between the Farnese, one of Italy's most powerful families, and the Barberini, whose family was headed by Urban VIII, the reigning pope. Both sides contested for Castro, the largest dukedom inside the boundaries of the Papal States. Malvasia at once enlisted on the side of the pope. He fought with valor in a brigade commanded by his cousin, the Marchese Cornelio Malvasia, leader of the Papal Army cavalry.
After the end of the War of Castro, Malvasia became gravely ill. Probably about this time, in the early 1640s, he returned to Bologna, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. On his recovery from his unnamed illness he studied for and entered the priesthood. He obtained a theology degree in 1653, and in 1662 was appointed a canon of the Cathedral of Bologna, a position of considerable prestige. He also continued his interest in literary matters and was an active member of the Accademia dei Gelati, the most important Bolognese literary society. Nevertheless, his principal career was to be in the law. In 1647, when he was only thirty-one years old, he was made professor of law at the University of Bologna, a post he held for forty years. The many tracts he published on legal matters spread his fame and brought him offers to join the faculties of other universities, those of Padua and Pavia included, but he preferred not to leave his native city.
To the already considerable list of his skills should be added an ability to paint and draw. These arts he studied under Giacomo Cavedone (1577-1660), a pupil of the Carracci, and while he practiced them for his diversion only, we know that he painted a number of frescoes, apparently landscape scenes and "perspectives," both in his own villa and in those of friends.
He knew many artists well. Guido Reni, whom he admired enormously, was an especially close friend. For many younger artists he was a benefactor. At his own expense he set up an art academy to teach aspiring painters to draw from nude Luigi Crespi tells us of his help for struggling young artists, some of whom would otherwise have had to leave the profession. It is also to Malvasia's great merit that he recognized the talent of Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665) and, overcoming the resistance of her father, saw to it that she received training as a painter. As a result, despite the fact that death ended her career when she was only twenty-seven years old, she enjoys a secure place in the history of Bolognese art.
Malvasia was also a collector and acted as an agent for Louis XIV in acquisition of Bolognese artworks for the royal collections. He dedicated the Felsina pittrice to Louis XIV. Sun King did not fail to show his gratitude to Carlo Cesare by sending him the famous “Gioiello della Vita”, a small but very precious jewel. Written in the tradition of Giorgio Vasari’s Vite (1550) but without Vasari’s belief in the supremacy of Florentine and Tuscan painting, Malvasia's Felsina promotes a new and passionate appreciation of Bolognese art, championing the originality and diversity of Bolognese painters on the basis of painstakingly collected data and documents. Malvasia died in Bologna on 9 March in 1693.
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