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Federico Barocci
(c. 1535-1612)
Barocci (or Baroccio), Federico
(c. 1535-1612). Italian painter.
Barocci was born in Urbino and apart from two trips to Rome early in his
career was based there all his life. He is said to have abandoned his frescos
in the Casino of Pius IV in the Vatican Gardens (1561-63) for fear that
rivals were trying to poison him, and the hypersensitive temperament this
suggests comes out in his work. It consists mainly of religious paintings,
which combine the influence of
Correggio and
Raphael
(also a native of Urbino) in a highly individual and sensitive manner.
His color harmonies are sharp but subtle and, although his paintings often
convey a feeling of intimate tenderness, his handling has great vigor.
Despite the fact that he worked away from the main centers of art, his work
was much sought after, his patrons including the emperor Rudolf II.
And although Barocci constantly claimed to be ill, he had a long and
productive career; he was prolific as a draughtsman as well as a painter
and was one of the first artists to make extensive use of colored chalks.
Barocci is generally considered the greatest and most individual painter of
his time in central Italy; certain features of his work are thoroughly in
the Mannerist tradition (his rather indefinite treatment of space, for
example, and his delight in fluttering draperies), but in his directness
and freshness he looked forward to the Baroque.
Bellori,
the pre-eminent biographer of the Baroque age, considered him the finest
Italian painter of his period and lamented that he had languished in
Urbino'.
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