Giovanni Battista Spinelli

Giovanni Battista Spinelli (* 1613 in Chieti , † 1658 in Ortona ) was an Italian painter .

biography

"Hagar and the Angel" , first half of the 17th century

Giovanni Battista Spinelli belonged to a very wealthy Bergamo family . His father, Sante Spinelli, moved from Bergamo to Chieti, where he worked as a grain trader. His sister Caterina married Baron Ludovico de Pizzis di Ortona . Giovan Battista was born in Palazzo Sirolli in Piazza San Giustino, as a plaque reminds us.

Spinelli is known as an artist all over Abruzzo . The Coronation of Mary and other works dating from around 1630 are located in the church of Santissima Trinità in Ortona . Other later paintings are exhibited in the churches of Ortona, Chieti and Penne . In fact, he spent the last part of his life between Lanciano and Ortona, where he died. He was buried in the former church of San Domenico in the Terravecchia district.

Spinelli moved to Naples around 1630 and met Battistello Caracciolo and Massimo Stanzione there , the latter being regarded by Bernardo De Dominici as the last of his pupils. He acquired a different compositional concept from the two Neapolitan artists, whereby he retained his compositional independence.

In recent years Spinelli has risen again to a leading figure of the Neapolitan 17th century thanks to the studies and findings of Roberto Longhi , Walter Vitzthum and Nicola Spinosa . The decisive factor was his ability as a draftsman, but above all because of the physical and physiognomic characteristics of his characters. After having been ignored by criticism for centuries, Spinelli reappeared as an original artist, influenced by the pictures he took from the studios of the Nordic Mannerists , from Lucas van Leyden to Hendrick Goltzius , from Jakob Matham to Heinrich Aldegrever , received.

Many of his works can be found in Castellammare di Stabia as well as in churches and private collections in Naples. Two great compositions can be seen in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence : the triumph of David and David soothes Saul . Other works are: Saint Stephen from a private collection in Florence, a painting kept in the picture gallery of the Hospital of S. Maria del Popolo agli Incurabili, The Adoration of the Shepherds , which is kept in the National Gallery in London . According to De Dominici, Spinelli died on November 20, 1647 at the age of about 50 in Ortona, while according to recent studies he was still alive in 1658.

Works

Study on paper for the martyrdom of St. Andrew

• Saint Matthew and the Angel, Leaves (1616), Uffizi Gallery (Santarelli Foundation), Florence
• Resurrection of Lazarus, leaves (around 1617), Ticino Collection, National Museum in Stockholm and National British Museum in London
• Figure Study and Assumption of the Virgin, Leopoldo de Medici Collection, Florence
• Studio di figure e Assunzione della Vergine, Collezione Leopoldo de Medici, Firenze
• Madonna and Child under Angels, with John and Saints Luke, Mark and Alexander - Mark's Chapel, Church of San Francesco al Corso, Chieti (1641)
• Two canvases for the Church of the Annunziata in Naples, 1642, destroyed in the fire of 1757
• Altarpiece of Saint Nicholas rescuing the young altar boy - Cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia, Chapel De Rogatis, 1643?
• Holy Family with the symbols of the Passion, Sacristy by Santi Alfonso e Antonio in Tarsia, ca.1643
• Loth and his daughters, Naples, Pisani collection
• Susanna and the old men, Turin, private collection
• Aman asks Esther in the presence of Ahasuerus, Naples, private collection (1649?)
• David and the Head of Goliath, Museum of Capodimonte, Naples (1650?)
• Judith with the head of Holofernes, Naples, private collection (1651?)
• David celebrated with the Jewish girls, Baratti Collection, Naples
• David appeases Saul with the harp, Naples, Baratti Collection (1653?)

Abruzzo

• Altarpiece from the Church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Ortona, 1655?
• Polyptych of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary between Saints Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Apostle Bartholomew and Apostle Simon - Church of Santissima Trinità, Ortona, kept in the Diocesan Museum of the Cathedral of Ortona
• Saint Joseph and Saint Peter with Saint Alois, Church of Madonna del Carmine, Ortona, today in the Diocesan Museum; it was part of a triptych, destroyed in 1943, with the martyrs Saint Nicholas and Saint Catherine, who venerated the Virgin and Child in the middle, in part there was the patron saint Saint Thomas with Saints Francis of Paola and Antonius of Padua.
• Polyptych of the Madonna and Child between Saint Francis, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Felix with the Eternal Father at the head, Capuchin Monastery of San Bartolomeo, Lanciano , now in the Diocesan Museum (1657?)
• Some private paintings in the Dragonetti collection, L'Aquila

literature

• Francesco Abbate: Storia dell'arte nell'Italia meridionale: il secolo d'oro . Donzelli Editore, 2002.
• Achille della Ragione: Giovan Battista Spinelli un pittore da rivalutare - Una rivisitazione critica attraverso 12 inediti . Naples online newspaper napoli.com ( napoli.com ).
• Irene Tedesco:  SPINELLI, Giovan Battista. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 93:  Sisto V-Stammati. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2018.

Web links

Commons : Giovanni Battista Spinelli  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Portals per Ortona a Mare ( it ) Archived from the original on October 13, 2010.
• Life of GIOVANNI BATTISTA SPINELLI ( en ) libart.com.