Cigoli

Lodovico Cardi (Sep 12, 1559 - Jun 18, 1613), also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last nine years of his life in Rome. Lodovico Cardi trained in Florence and influenced by the most prominent of the "Counter-Maniera" painters, Santi di Tito, as well as by Barocci, Cigoli shed the shackles of mannerism and infused his later paintings with an expressionism often lacking from 16th-century Florentine painting.

He was active on horseback between the period of Mannerism and the baroque. Formed in Florence, under the guidance of Alessandro Allori and Bernardo Buontalenti, he worked in Florence and in the last years of his life in Rome, during the pontificate of Pope Paul V Borghese. He was a fellow student and great friend of Galileo Galilei. During his artistic life he worked on painting, plastic arts, pictorial anatomy, scenography, literature and music. He had the merit of bringing Mannerism to Florence and being accepted among the first at the Academy of Crusca. In the last years of his life he was named the Knight of Malta.

Son of Giovan Batista Cardi and Geneva of the Mazzi (Mazza or Mazzi) was born on September 21, 1559 in a house at today's Villa Castelvecchio, in the castle of Cigoli, today a medieval village set on a hill in the town of San Miniato in Tuscany , From which Cardi acquired the pseudonym of "Il Cigoli"

He started his course following Humanities studies at Empoli under the leadership of the prelate Bastiano Morellone, up to the age of 13. At the same time Cardi family moved to Florence, and Lodovico, following the advice of Senator Jacopo Salviati, appeared at the Alessandro Allori's shop, student and heir of Agnolo Bronzino, who held pictures of anatomy in the cloisters of San Lorenzo

Under his guidance, a fervent michaelangiolist, a cold composer but extremely precise and minute designer, began a four-year period of artistic apprenticeship from 1574 to 1578, spending "the days and sometimes the whole nights of those melancholy operations" in the same year Participated in the competition for entrance to the Academy The painting he painted for admission, Cain and Abele (lost) was judged the best among those presented In 1581 he collaborated with the Allori in the decorations of the Uffizi Gallery; In the following years, he painted the Vesting of Vincenzo Ferreri and Christ at Limbo for the great cloister of S Maria Novella, and the Birth of the Virgin for the SS Conception

It was perhaps the close contact with the corpses, surely the unhealthy air of the city, which caused the Cigoli to fall ill "fallen badly" and forced him to return to the countryside of his native village during the years between 1581 and 1584 Period is the cycle of Cigoli's youth works, consisting of Noli me tangere of the church of the Conservatory of Santa Chiara in San Miniato and the Annunciation of the Chapel of the Serristori Hospital in Figline Valdarno

To recall him in Florence was Bernardo Buontalenti, illustrious architect of the Medici court, from which Cigoli had taken lessons of architecture and perspective during his first Florentine period Under him he designed a model of the façade of Santa Maria del Fiore and in 1596, Inspired by the columns of the atrium of the Chapel of the Pazzi del Brunelleschi, the courtyard of the Nonfinito Palace, as well as the loggia of Palazzo Corsi-Tornabuoni, via dei Tornabuoni As an architect, the Cigoli was highlighted for its originality, the result of a compromise between The classicist tendency and the Florentine style manners Also under the Buontalenti he always worked on the decoration of the Uffizi tribune and the scenic drawings for the Medici Court celebrations

From the lessons of Buontalenti and by the advice of Galileo Galilei, a illustrious friend to whom he will be bound throughout his life, as evidenced by the wide passage between the two, was born the perspective treaty, the emblematic work of Cigoli kept today in the Cabinet of Designs and Designs Prints of the Uffizi Gallery

At the same time, in addition to architectural and design studies, Cigoli also cultivated a lot of painting: it was at this time that he was influenced by the "counter-fashion" of Santi di Tito, who in Florence promoted Andrea Del Sarto's pictorial tradition by painting in a style Inspired by Correggio and Titian, found in the two works of the Madonnina of Budapest and the Trinity of the Refectory of Santa Croce. Gregorio Pagani, his great friend, also founded an independent academy in the study of Girolamo Macchietti, in which he taught to draw "from the natural" And a more naturalistic coloration was sought

During the same period, the two frescoes depicting the Savior in Limbo and the Sanctuary of St. Vincent Ferreri of the Grande Santa Maria Novella cloister and the table of the Resurrection of the Lord, commissioned by Manierist connotations, were assigned to the chapel of the Ducal Palace and today preserved To Arezzo

Thanks to Buontalenti, and as evidenced by the payment declarations and the missions at the State Archives of Florence, the young Lodovico made his entrance to the court of Medicea, the Grand Duke Francesco De 'Medici, Don Giovanni and Ostilio Ricci, Who was the outstanding master of mathematics and perspective of Galileo and Cardi The first works commissioned by him were seven portraits, executed in 1588 and sent to Mantua, and the following year some paintings concerning his most important commissioners, Grand Duke Ferdinando and His wife Cristina of Lorraine, who had their wedding theme A few years later will paint a canvas of the Resurrection for a palace Pitti palace and a fresco in the Petraia villa On July 26, 1588, Cigoli, along with his brothers, will definitely take Florentine citizenship claiming to live in the city for about 20 years and to devote themselves to "honorable arts and exercises" (Arch of State of Florence, Duegento, ms 143, P 71)

A journey that dates back to the first half of the nineties of the sixteenth century in Arezzo and Umbria, in Perugia, together with Passignano, officially marking the beginning of the Cardiological Manifesto. In these two cities, they could admire two works by Federico Barocci Madonna of the people and the Deposition of the Cross, who surely hit the Cigoli indelible, so that "when they saw that they did so beautiful work they were to be amazed, and Lodovico, who until that day had sometimes meant that, As he had so far seen in the works of the living masters, he was not afraid of them, seeing this second work of Barroccio, he was victorious. "From this experience, once he returned to Florence, he began the pictorial Inspired by Correggio Another trip, quoted by Baglione, this time in Lombardy, has the purpose of studying the works of painters in Northern Italy and in particular Correggio, from which app Made the use of warm colors

At this time, the works commissioned by Cigoli from the neighboring towns of Valdarno, Fucecchio, Empoli, Montopoli, Pontedera, Pontorme and other important cities of Tuscany as Cortona, Pistoia also had important Italian buyers, such as philosopher and doctor Girolamo Mercuriale From Forlì, who commissioned the Dinner at the Pharisee's House, now held at Doria Gallery in Rome

It was certainly the decade between 1591 and 1601, the most prolific one of Cigoli, in which, besides affirming and consolidating his "pictorial manuscript", begins to cover his works of some psychological depth. This period includes paintings such as Maddalena Penitente, St. Francis in prayer, St. Peter Martyr and St. Francis receive the stigmata and the emblematic altarpiece for the church of Montedomini portraying the martyrdom of St Stephen of 1597, which Pietro da Cortona called "the most Beautiful of how many exquisite paintings owns our city, which at any time was the mother of singular professors ", in reference to the other works already present in Florence

At the end of the sixteenth century, Cigoli also resumed anatomy studies under the famous Flemish anatomist Teodoro Majern, who lectured at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital. In these years the modeling of the "sculpted" statuette "of about one Arm "in wax reproducing the muscular faces of a human body, today at the Museum of Specola It was the practice of those schools to use models reproducing anatomical parts on which students could carry out their studies In those years Cardi was surely among the top painters Active in Florence He owned a large personal workshop where many of his comrades and students worked, including Andrea Commodi, Paris, Clemente Porcellini, Cili, and the young Giovanni Bilivert and Cristofano Allori Cardi's talent was recognized not only in the field Artistic, but also in intellectual environments; He became a member of the Fiorentina Academy in 1597 and was among the first in 1603 to be part of the Academy of Crusca. He was also regarded as a musician, orator and poet. Certainly, his lyric and lyric art had considerable influence on the attendance of These intellectual environments and particular friendships such as Davanzati, Mercuriale, and the poet Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane

Many works were produced during this period: (1589-1590) Immaculate Conception (Empoli-Pontormo, church of S Michele), Resurrection (Palazzo Pitti); 1590, Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (Uffizi Gallery); 1591, Last Supper (Empoli, collegiate), Resurrection (Arezzo, Pinacoteca); 1592, The Trinity (Florence S Croce Museum); 1593, Madonna between Saints Michele and Peter (Pianezzole, church of SMichele); 1594, Heraclius brings the cross (Empoli, collegiate), 1594 Heraclius brings the cross (Florence - Museum of S Marco), Virile portrait (Galleria di Palazzo Pitti); 1595, The Virgin of the Rosary (Pontedera, Church of SS Iacopo and Philip); 1596, S Francesco receives the stigmata (Galleria di Palazzo Pitti), Dinner at the House of the Pharisee (Rome, Doria Gallery); 1597, Martyrdom of S Stefano (Palazzo Pitti Gallery), S Antonio and the Miracle of the Mula (Cortona, S Francesco); 1598, Kill of S Peter Martyr (S Maria Novella), Jacob's Dream (Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts); 1599, Pietà con i santi (Colle Val d'Elsa, S Agostino church), Lamentation (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), Adoration of Francis (Rome, National Gallery), Christ Save Peter (Carrara, Academy of Fine Arts), Christ Before Pilate, (gallery of the Uffizi), S Girolamo translates the Bible, (Rome, Church of S Giovanni de 'Fiorentini); 1600, The Annunciation (Montughi, Church of S Francesco)

Scenographer and sculptor for Doctors:
After a first Roman brace, in the 1600s, he also focused heavily on the work of set designer. In the same year he was summoned to the Medici court to prepare the decorations of the Grand Ducal celebrations during the marriage ceremony between the King of France Henry IV and Mary De 'Medici, for which he created different scenarios for theater, triumphal wars, triumphal arches, prospective games and tapestries. The results of these scenery were so appreciated by the queen so much that it induced her to summon him again in 1610 for the construction of the equestrian monument On the New Bridge in Paris in honor of the sovereign spouse who failed the same year For the painful vicissitudes that arose, Cigoli could only follow the construction of the base of the monument, finished at a later stage, however, following the drawings he produced This statue was destroyed during The years of the French Revolution

After his first trip to Rome, Cigoli spent three years between Florence and Pisa, where he followed respectively the restoration and renovation of the Chapel of San Gaggio dei Corsini outside the Roman door, for which he painted the table of St. Catherine of Alexandria Who disputes with the doctors, and decorated the church of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri

On April 3, 1604, he arrived in Rome to stay there permanently, where he was hosted by the Medici and by Don Virginio Orsini. This certainly represents the period in which Cigoli reached its highest pictorial expression, which dates back to Cardi's emblematic work Ecce Homo, commissioned by Monsignor Massimo, winning the competition of Passignano and the young Caravaggio Strinse, as well as important friendships with illustrious men of the ecclesiastical world, such as Cardinals Arrigone, Barberini, Del Monte, Montalto and Scipione Borghese, intellectuals and Such as the supporters of Galileo in the Academy of Lynx and Art, such as his friend Passignano, the Carracci In the same period he was elected to the Academy of S Luca

He was forced to leave the city again from the fall of 1604 to May 1606, years when he was again called to work for the Medici in Florence, where he painted the coronation of Cosimo I (Pisa, Knights Church), Martyrdom Of Giacomo (Polesine, Church of S Giacomo), Adoration of the Magi (for the Albizzi Chapel in S Pietro Maggiore in Florence) Returning to Rome in 1607, he participated in the contest for the construction of the façade of St. Peter in preparation Of which he produced an innumerable amount of architectural models without getting the job

On 21 September, for the last time in his life, Florence where he laid down the testament and painted, between 1607 and 1608, the last Florentine works: the Deposition (Pitti Palace), Charity (Pitti Palace), The vocation S Pietro (Palazzo Pitti) and the Birth of the Virgin (Pistoia, church of SDomenico) and to create the scenery in honor of the marriage of Cosimo II with Maria Maddalena of Austria

In 1608 he returned to Rome, where he remained until his death in his home of Via della Sapienza, home of his workshop, where he worked on the likes of Domenico Fetti and Sigismondo Coccapani. Between 1608 and 1610 came to him Commission two large works: St. Peter, who heals the crippled for the Vatican basilica and the Deposition of Saint Paul for the homonymous basilica outside the walls, both lost after the deterioration due to the poor quality of the base for the first, And the fire from the Ostiense basilica in 1829

In 1610, on the occasion of the construction of the great chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore wanted by Pope Paolo V Borghese, Cigoli was commissioned to freshen the dome. The fresco depicted the 12-crowned Virgin standing above the moon "with the first lunar landscape seen through The Galileo telescope "and was executed under the supervision of Cardinal Iacopo Serra Opera, who after two years of meticulous work was never satisfied because of a prospective error that did not allow the desired result:" Discovery That he had at last the work and, with it, the apparent serious defect, remained like himself: and it was the first thought to send it to the ground and make it again "In that year he painted The Casti Giuseppe (Galleria Borghese )

In the same year, Cardinal Scipione Borghese ordered him to freshen up the loggia of a villa in his villa at the Quirinale, later owned by the Rospigliosi-Pallavicini. The Cigoli decided to represent four stories of the fable of Psyche, which after the demolition of the casino To allow for the expansion of national roads were brought to Capitoline Gallery, in which at first they were attributed to Annibale Carracci, then discovered in a corner the LC sign was thought to attribute it to Lodovico Carracci uncle of Annibale Ma with the publication in 1913 Of the biography of Lodovico Cardi-Cigoli from 1628 (the work of his nephew Giovan Battista Cardi and kept in the Uffizi Gallery), a detailed description of the Capitoline opera came to light, whose consecration to Cigoli took place with the discovery of the unpublished poem by Francesco Bracciolini of 'Api titled Psyche found at the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence: "Cigoli, t Man is ready and sent that the wandering world imitating appellation genuinely generates and does not mimic "The attribution was subsequently confirmed by studies carried out by Anna Matteoli on the epistolar relationship between Cardi and Galileo

Recognizing the merit of the works he was making, "the quality of mind" and the deep appreciation of Paolo V and his cardinal grateful in Cigoli, on the proposal of the then Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Amongst Alof de Wignacourt, was appointed Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem Hospital in April 1613, as evidenced by the epistolar relations between the Pontiff and the Friar

With the Psyche of Psyche, initiated by Cigoli's artistic statement, he closed his life due to the sudden death on 8 June 1613 at the age of 54 following a violent fever.The body was buried in a first Moment in the church of S Giovanni de 'Fiorentini Subsequently her remains were transferred to Florence in the church of Santa Felicita

The painter Cigoli
Cigoli's artistic profile: the birth of the new "fashion" and "natural and true colors":
The artistic profile of Lodovico Cardi, reconstructed mainly through the biography written by his grandson Gian Battista Cardi, and which emerges from the various self-portraits, is that of a sensitive and melancholic figure, very meticulous and above all a man with great goodness of mind, "He was very much aware of what he expected of a perfect painter" and very religious (he was part of the oratory of St. Philip Neri). These features will have a significant impact on the whole of his artistic activity

The fundamental features of his "style" are the result of the union of classic elements of late Renaissance painting with unprecedented stylistic novelties. The compositional harmony and the pursuit of perfection, a tendency gained during his experiences in the Florentine workshops, especially by the collaboration with Saints of Tito, along with the religious pietism typical of Florentine painters of the period, are the elements related to the classical traditions of the time; While Cigoli had the merit of combining them with elements of novelty such as elegance, theatricality and its particular use of warm and natural color, aimed at stylistically embellishing its subjects, from which it transpired all its sensitivity to conventional beauty At first, the Cardi was framed as an artist who was only able to recall the salient features of the three great Renaissance masters (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raffaello), but soon his "beautiful way" was re-evaluated, so that at that time Cardi was considered to be the great reformer of Renaissance canons that caused painters to abandon Michelangelo's imitation to adopt a different style set on the tradition and realism of beautiful Tuscan design

Along with stylistic formalism, Cardi manages to convey the emotional strength of representation, animating its subjects and differentiating itself from rational representations typical of Renaissance painters

The stylistic evolution and the works:
Cigoli's artistic activity is subdivided into three periods:

The first Florentine period, which dates back to the Cigoli youth production
The second Florentine period, which dates back to the works of pictorial maturity
The Roman period, dating back to Cardi's artistic affirmation
The first Florentine period and youth works:
The first Florentine period of training at the Alegia shop lasts until 1590 During these years Cardi undergoes the influence of Pontormo and Santi di Tito. His pictorial production embraces different currents typical of the time, ranging from masonry to To a more classically simpler and more objective style These years also belong to the works produced in its land of origin during the period of convalescence from the fallen tree

The most important and representative works of this period are:

Noli me tangere, 1580, oil on table, 290x156 cm, San Miniato, church of the Conservatory of Santa Chiara
Descent of Christ at Limbo, 1584, fresco, 370x398 cm, Florence, Grande cloister of Santa Maria Novella
Vesting of St. Vincent Ferreri, 1584, 370x398 cm, Florence, Grande cloister of Santa Maria Novella
Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, 1590, oil on table, 300x175 cm, Florence, Uffizi Gallery
Immaculate Conception between angels, 1590, oil on canvas, 250x185 cm, Pontorme, church of San Michele Arcangelo

The second Florentine period: the years of pictorial maturity:
In the second period in Florence, from 1591 to 1603, before the move to Rome, Cardi's stylistic affirmation has been developed. His painting evolves towards its "beautiful way", from which the influence of various pictorial streams emerges: monumentality By Michelangelo, the use of Andrea Del Sarto's color, and the delicate landscape representation typical of Flemish painters

Resurrection of Christ, 1591, oil on table, 270x170 cm, Arezzo, Civic Museum
Heraclius leading the cross, 1594, oil on table, 350x267 cm, Florence, St. Mark's Church
Jacob's Dream, 1598, Oil on Canvas, 173x134 cm, Nancy, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Santa Chiara and St. Louis in adoration of a painting depicting St. Francis, 1602, oil on canvas, 297x230 cm, Pistoia, Savings Bank of San Miniato

The cycle of theological and devotional representations:
This cycle of works is perhaps the most representative of Cardi's "fairness". They reveal the Renaissance harmony and realism, the contemplative atmosphere, the pathos, and the theatricality of the subjects depicted

Madonna of the Rosary and the Saints Dominic of Guzman, Monica and Augustine Bishop, 1595, oil on the table, 263x168 cm, Pontedera, offering of Saints Jacopo and Filippo
Madonna with Child, 1598, oil on table, 61x45 cm, Florence, Palatina Gallery
Madonna and saints, 1593, oil on canvas, 200x155 cm, Pianezzoli, church of San Michele Arcangelo
Dinner at the Pharisee's House, 1596, oil on canvas, 120x160 cm, Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphili
Madonna teaching to read to the Child, 1598, oil on canvas, 146x114 cm, Florence, Galleria Palatina
St. Francis receives stigmata, 1596, oil on table, 247x171 cm, Florence, Uffizi Gallery

The martyrdom of St. Stephen and the cycle of sacred narrative:
This cycle of works belongs to the various representations of the saints depicted in particular devotional or ecstatic attitudes in which Cigoli introduces the emotional component (pathos), even before the Bernini and the Reni

Martyrdom of St. Stephen, 1597, oil on canvas, 287x450 cm, Florence, Galleria Palatina
Resurrection of Lazzaro, 1598, oil on canvas, 305x175 cm, Montopoli in Val d'Arno, church of the Conservatory of Santa Marta
San Girolamo in the studio, 1599, oil on table, 412x206 cm, Rome, Basilica of St. John the Baptist of the Florentines
Pietà, 1599, oil on canvas, cm 193 x 144 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
St. Francis in prayer, 1599, oil on canvas, 145x120 cm, Rome, National Gallery of Ancient Art
San Pietro walks on the water, 1599, oil on the table, 254x167 cm, Florence, Palazzo Pitti
Christ deposited, 1599, oil on canvas, 115x115 cm, Colle Val d'Elsa, Bishop's Palace
Annunciation, 1600, oil on canvas, 296x186 cm, Florence, church of Saints Francis and Chiara

The Roman period and the Maximum Contest:
The third period of pictorial production coincides with the last ten years of his life, from 1603 to 1613 The works produced in these years reveal the influence of Raffaello, of Roman Baroque, but especially of Barcars and Correggio regarding the 'Use of warm and natural color, in contrast to the classic cool colors of the fashionists

Dispute of St. Catherine of Alexandria, 1603, oil on canvas, Florence, church of San Gaggio
Mystical Wedding of St. Catherine, 1604, oil on table, Florence, church of San Gaggio
Ecce Homo, 1604, oil on table, 175x135 cm, Florence, Galleria Palatina
Martyrdom of St. James and Josiah, 1605, oil on canvas, 305x215 cm, Polesine (MN), Church of St. James Major
Allegory of Charity, 1605, oil on canvas, 245x125 cm, Florence, Palazzo Pitti
The Third Appearance of Christ to St. Peter, 1607, oil on canvas, 370x239 cm, Florence, Palatine Gallery
Sacrifice of Isaac, 1607, oil on canvas, 175x132 cm, Florence, Galleria Palatina
Nativity of the Virgin 1608, oil on canvas, 295x200 cm, Pistoia, church of the Most Holy Annunziata
Deposition of the Cross, 1607, oil on table, 321x206 cm, Florence, Palatine Gallery
Christ's entry to Jerusalem, 1609, oil on paper, 43x35 cm Florence, Basilica of Santa Croce

Other works:
Other important works are:

In Rome, in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (San Pietro healing a leper), in the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Sepulcher of Saint Paul (unfinished work)) and some frescoes at Villa Borghese (Stories of Psyche)
In Florence, where one of the principal works remains a Venus with satire. As an architect he was assigned to the courtyard of Palazzo Nonfinito in Florence. He made a wax statue representing the human anatomy of a decorticated body, among the first known examples of waxwork The work entitled The Scuffled is currently exhibited at the Specola Museum
In Naples, in the Museum of Capodimonte is preserved the oil on canvas of the Pietà
In Forli, in the Abbey of San Mercuriale (San Mercuriale submitting the dragon)
In Pisa, at Palazzo Giuli-Rosselmini-Gualandi, there is a penitent Saint Jerome about 1603
Hermitage, a Saint Francis and a Circumcision, both of the nineties of the sixteenth century, coming from the Church of Saint Francis (Prato)
At the National Gallery in Washington, Adoration of Shepherds with St. Catherine (1599), Face of Christ (1559-1613)
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