gious works is the Pala Basadonne of 1534 (National Gal-
lery of Art), originally painted for the church of Santa
Maria della Consolazione, Genoa. On his return to
Rome Ferino worked at SS. Trinità, Castel Sant' Angelo,
and in the Sala Regia of the Vatican.
BALDASSARE PERUZZI
Siena I48i-Rome 1536
Peruzzi's career began in Siena. In 1502/ 3 he moved to
Rome, where he rapidly attained success as an architect
and painter. He was inspired by the traditions of classical
antiquity and the art of his contemporary Raphael. From
1509 to 1516 he was engaged as the architect and designer
of the Villa Farnesina. In 1516 he decorated the Cappella
Ponzetti in Santa Maria della Pace and completed the
fresco representing the Presentation of the Virgin for the
same church. Peruzzi was appointed architect of Saint
Peter's, and in 1520-23 he painted the oval frescoes illus-
trating scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses in the Villa
Madama. He also traveled to Bologna. Returning to
Rome, he designed Pope Adrian VI's tomb in Santa
Maria della Anima. Peruzzi returned to work in Siena in
1527 as architect of the Sienese republic, but in 1535 he
was again in Rome. In the same year he began construc-
tion of the Palazzo Massimo allé Colonne. His designs
for architectural and scénographie projects had a great in-
fluence on Sebastiano Serlio, who used them as the basis
for his treatise on architecture.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIAZZETTA
Venice 1683-1754
Piazzetta was the son of a sculptor. After studying with
Antonio Molinari in Venice, he lived in Bologna for
about a year, studying with Giuseppe Maria Crespi. He
returned to Venice circa 1710, remaining for the rest of
his life. Piazzetta's early works reflect the tenebrism of
Crespi, as is evidenced in Virgin Appearing to Saint Philip
Neri of 1725-27 (Venice, Santa Maria della Fava). Circa
1725 he worked in the Venetian church of SS. Giovanni
e Paolo, painting the Glory of Saint Dominic for the ceil-
ing. Piazzetta's later works, such as the Fortune Teller of
1740 (Accademia), reveal a lighter, more Rococo palette.
He also specialized in paintings and drawings of half-
length figures or heads, known as teste di carattere. He
achieved great success as an artist and teacher and was
named director of the Accademia in Venice on its found-
ing in 1750.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI
Venice 1720-Rome 1778
Piranesi learned the art of drawing from his uncle, an ar-
chitect in Venice. During his early years he focused on
studies of perspective and stage designs. In 1740 he
moved to Rome and began a systematic study of the
city's antiquities. While there he learned to make etchings
from Giuseppe Vasi. In 1742 Piranesi began the plates for
his first series of views of Rome, published in 1743,
called Prima parte. Circa 1744 a series of fantastic imagi-
nary scenes, called the Carceri d'invenzione, was issued, to
be re-etched by the artist in 1760-61. Piranesi returned
to Venice briefly and was back in Rome in 1747. Among
his other series of etchings are Vedute di Roma, first pub-
lished in 1748. His study of the ruins of Rome ultimately
led to the publication in 1756 of Le Antichità romane,
which was an immediate success. His drawings and etch-
ings are notable for their dramatic spatial illusionism.CORNELIS VAN POELENBURCH
Utrecht 1594/95-1667
Poelenburch was a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert, ac-
cording to Joachim Sandrart, and is documented in
Rome in 1617 and between 1619 and 1623. Sometime be-
fore 1621, Poelenburch worked at the Medici court in
Florence, where he was influenced by the work of
Jacques Callot. Early Roman paintings such as Landscape
with Orpheus of circa 1620 (Louvre) demonstrate the in-
fluence of Paulus Bril. Some of the paintings from this
period are difficult to distinguish from those of Filippo
Napoletano. After 1620 he developed an innovative ap-
proach to the depiction of the Roman landscape charac-
terized by low horizons and strongly contrasting sun-
light and shadow, as can be seen in his three paintings of
the Campo Vaccino in the Louvre. His drawings of
this period influenced Bartholomeus Breenbergh, with
whom Poelenburch might have sketched circa 1623 -24.
After returning to Utrecht circa 1625, he was highly suc-
cessful, gaining commissions from the House of Orange
and also working for the court of Charles I in England
between 1637 and 1641. In 1649 and 1650 Poelenburch
was an officer of the Utrecht painting guild, of which he
was dean in 1657, 1658, and 1664.ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES 34!