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Historical Artist - Giuseppe Maria Crespi (1665 - 1747)
Giuseppe Maria Crespi was trained in the traditional and classical style, but rejected it to
develop his own dramatic techniques that used tenets of humanism and emphasized chiaroscuro. The
Bolognese painters Ludovico Carracci and Guernico also impacted his work. Crespi traveled to
Venice in 1690 and then to Parma where he admired the frescoes of Correggio. He favored
religious and historical subjects painted with thick paint and strong light and dark contrasts.
Crespi opened a school in Bologna in 1700 were he influenced his many Venetian students. He went
blind at the end of his life. Crespi is best known today as one of the main proponents of
baroque genre painting in Italy. Italians, until the 17th century, had paid little attention to
such themes, concentrating mainly on grander images from religion, mythology, and history, as
well as portraiture of the mighty. In this they differed from Northern Europeans, specifically
Dutch painters, who had a strong tradition in the depiction of everyday activities.
Contemporary Italian Artists
Art Galleries in Italy
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