Carlo Cignani

Carlo Cignani (May 15, 1628 - Sep 8, 1719) was an Italian painter of the Bolognese and of the Forlivese school, active in the Baroque period His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of Guido Reni and Guercino, as well as those of Simone Cantarini This gentle manner marked a break with the more energetic style of earlier Bolognese classicism of the Bolognese School of painting

He was born to a family of noble ancestry, but limited resources, in Bologna His father's first name was Pompeo, and his mother, Maddalena Quaini

In Bologna, he studied first under Battista Cairo and later under Francesco Albani, to whom he remained closely allied, and was his most famous disciple His first noted commission was a St Paul exorcising demon for the church of the Gesu in Bologna For a hall dedicated to the Farnese in the Palazzo Publico, he painted with Taruffi, depicting the Francis, king of France, curing Scrofula on his entry to Bologna and the Entry of Paul III Farnese to Bologna'

Art historians acclaim Cignani of having led a stylistic and tasteful turn around around 1670 within the Bologna school, which allowed the painters to move away from the influences of the Rhineland tradition to bring them to the academic spirit

He was, however, also strongly influenced by the genius of Correggio, and by the masterworks by Melozzo da Forlì For instance, his masterpiece, the Assumption of the Virgin, around the cupola of the church of the Madonna del Fuoco at Forlì, is inspired by the Correggio's frescoes in the cupola of the Cathedral of Parma and by the Melozzo's perspective from down to up These frescoes occupied Cignani for some twenty years

In 1681, Cignani returned to Bologna from Parma

Formed with John the Baptist of Cairo and with Francesco Albani, he was strongly influenced by Annibale Carracci, Correggio, and Melozzo da Forlì's works from below and for the use of color Cignani was also included in the tradition of the Forlivo school, whose development contributed to his work

He spent his last time in Forlì, also for the realization of his great masterpiece, the fresco of the cupola of the Chapel of Our Lady of Fire in the Cathedral In the Forlì Civic Art Gallery, instead, you can see the Santa Rosa Coronation Canvas and Self-Portrait His, but probably with the help of his son Felice Cignani, is La Vergine and San Filippo Neri, in the same picture gallery The famous Aurora is flying to the blue to bring light and life to the world (1672-1674), in the Albicini Palace, always in Forlì The Aurora "represents its highest degree of the refined formal idealism" of Cignani, thus becoming "one of the finest figurative inventions of Italian seventeenth-century art"

This period is the San Giovannino, "great for the natural" for Bishop Rasponi, recently found on the antiquarian market; First given for lost, is now in a private collection cesenate, Andrea Emiliani 2010

Selected works:
Penitent Magdalen, Dulwich Picture Gallery
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (c 1680), Oil on canvas, 99 x 99 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, Musee Fesch, Ajaccio
Charity Oil on canvas, 1194 x 1613 cm, San Francisco Museum of Art

Judgement of Paris (1691), Oil on canvas, 1305 x 161 cm,
Aurora, Circolo della Scranna, Forlì
Incoronazione di Santa Rosa (Coronation of Saint Rose of Lima), Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica
Self-portrait, Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica
With Felice Cignani, La Vergine e San Filippo Neri (The Virgin and Saint Philip Neri), Oil on canvas, Forlì, Pinacoteca Civica
https://hisour.com/artist/carlo-cignani/