Giuseppe Gru

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Assumption of the Virgin - Dome fresco in Schönberg by Giuseppe Gru (1753).

Giuseppe Gru , also Giuseppe Le Grù (* around 1715 in Verona ; † 1775 there ), was an Italian painter of the Baroque era .

Life

Marriage of St. Katharina - Choir dome fresco by Giuseppe Gru (1753)

His father Stefano Gru was born in Venice around 1663 and later settled in Verona, where he made a name for himself primarily as a portrait painter. He had four children (Giuseppe, Francesco, Lodovico and Angelica), of which Giuseppe would become the most important. Stefano Gru allegedly died in Verona in 1718.

Little is known about the life of Giuseppe Gru. He was probably born in Verona around 1715. Because his father died very early (around 1718), he is unlikely to have learned anything from him. Since his later works have often been compared with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), one can assume that Gru, like his sister Angelica later, went to Venice and also learned there. It is not known whether and how Gru made a name for himself back then. It is also unclear whether his few works that have survived in Italy were created before his time in Germany or later. Gru crossed the Alps. His first secured work dates from 1741, when Gru painted the ceiling paintings for the St. Martin Hospital Church in Bad Mergentheim . In 1742 he received the commission for some pictures for the former Premonstratensian monastery church in Gerlachsheim , which is not far from Bad Mergentheim. 1748 a side altar sheet in the parish church of St. Veit in Fulpmes is signed by Gru. Apparently, Tyrol was now his new field of activity. In 1752 the Veronese painter worked in the parish church of the Holy Cross in Schönberg. His most important and largest commission was ultimately the design of the parish church of St. Katharina in Lermoos from 1753 to 1754.

Then he returned to Italy. Between 1757 and 1758 he painted the vault of the presbytery in the parish church in Vigano San Martino north-east of Bergamo . He also made two altarpieces for the same church. In 1760 he worked with the Milanese artist Innocenzo Ceppi in the Palazzo Magnavin-Foratti in Montagnana, southwest of Padua . In 1761 Gru created the wall paintings in the library of the Franciscan monastery in Padua, which is adjacent to the Basilica of St. Anthony . His creative period began in Mantua and the surrounding area in the 1760s , even if these works are not among his most important. In addition, other works in the nearby Veneto can be ascribed to him, such as an altarpiece in Villafranca southwest of Verona . Gru probably lived in Mantua until the end of his life.

The addition “Veronensis” can be found in most of the signed works. Gru saw himself from afar as a Veronese. The year of death is generally assumed to be 1775, although this cannot be confirmed with certainty. Even if little concrete information has been passed on about the life of Giuseppe Gru, he can still be described as an outstanding master of the baroque who does not need to hide from his teacher Tiepolo.

Mantle division of St. Martin - right side altar sheet in Fulpmes by Giuseppe Gru (1748).

Works (selection)

  • Bad Mergentheim - Spitalkirche St. Martin: ceiling painting (lost), four heart-shaped corner paintings, two side altar leaves (all 1741)
  • Fulpmes - Parish Church of St. Veit : right side altar sheet with St. Martin (1748)
  • Gerlachsheim - former Premonstratensian monastery church : ceiling paintings and side altar leaves on the cross and family altar (all 1742)
  • Gaukönigshofen - Church of the Holy Guardian Angels and James the Elder: high altar sheet (1743, no longer available)
  • Lermoos - Parish Church of St. Katharina : the complete frescoes in the choir, nave and side chapels in just 128 days (1753/54)
  • Padua - Franciscan monastery: ceiling painting in the library (Gru allegedly only painted the figures, the ornaments were made by Innocenzo Ceppi from Milan)
  • Schönberg im Stubaital - Parish Church of the Holy Cross: Dome fresco of the Assumption and four church fathers in the spandrels, two side altar leaves (1753)
  • Verona - Palazzo Gazola (today Palazzo Arvedi): four ceiling paintings
  • Verona - sketch of a dying Cleopatra

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Curt H. Weigelt: Grù, family of painters . In: Ulrich Thieme , Fred. C. Willis (Ed.): General lexicon of visual artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 15 : Gresse – Hanselmann . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1922, p. 117 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Stefano L'Occaso: Ancora by Giuseppe Le Grù. In: Accademia Roveretana degli Agiati (ed.): Atti dell'Accademia degli Agiat. Anno 260 (2010) ser. VIII, vol. X, A, fasc. I. Osiride, Rovereto 2010. pp. 209-217
  3. ↑ A catalog raisonné can be found at Klaus Wankmiller: Giuseppe Gru. A painter from Verona and his work in southern Germany and in Tyrol. In: Extra Verren. Yearbook of the Museum Association of the Reutte District 3, 2008, pp. 49–74.
  4. ^ Dean Effinger: Bad Mergentheim. Sanctuaries from seven centuries. Erolzheim 1955.
  5. ↑ Rudolf Silberberger: Parish Church of St. Veit in Fulpmes (= Christian art centers in Austria 312). Salzburg 1998.
  6. ^ Jutta Betz: Gerlachsheim. Catholic parish church Heilig-Kreuz (= Peda art guide. 489). Passau 2000.
  7. ^ Gert Ammann: The Tyrolean Oberland. The districts of Imst, Landeck and Reutte - his works of art, historical forms of life and settlement (= Austrian art monograph. 9). Salzburg 1978, pp. 231-232; Ferdinand Kätzler: Parish Church of St. Katharina Lermoos. Lermoos 1998.
  8. ^ Paul Gutmann: Parish Church Schönberg in the Stubai Valley. Innsbruck 1995.
personal data
SURNAME Gru, Giuseppe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grù, Giuseppe Le
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Baroque painter
DATE OF BIRTH around 1715
PLACE OF BIRTH Verona
DATE OF DEATH 1775
Place of death Verona