Giulio Romano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giulio Romano (c. 1499 – November 1, 1546) was an Italian painter
and architect. A prominent pupil of Raphael, his stylistic
deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the
16th-century style known as Mannerism. Giulio's drawings have long
been treasured by collectors; contemporary prints of them engraved
by Marcantonio Raimondi were a significant contribution to the
spread of 16th-century Italian style throughout Europe.
Giulio Romano was born in Rome. In his native city, as a young
assistant in Raphael's studio, he worked on the frescos in the
Vatican loggias to designs by Raphael and in Raphael's Stanze in the
Vatican painted a group of figures in the Fire in the Borgo (L'incendio
di Borgo) fresco. He also collaborated on the decoration of the
ceiling of the Villa Farnesina. After the death of Raphael in 1520,
he helped complete the Vatican frescoes of the life of Constantine
as well as Raphael's Coronation of the Virgin and the
Transfiguration in the Vatican. In Rome, Giulio decorated the Villa
Madama for Cardinal Giuliano de' Medici, afterwards Clement VII. The
crowded Giulio Romano frescoes lack the stately and serene
simplicity of his master.
After the Sack of Rome in 1527 and
the death of Leo X, artistic patronage in Rome slackened. Vasari
tells how Baldassare Castiglione was delegated by Federico Gonzaga
to procure Giulio to execute paintings and architectural and
engineering projects for the duchy of Mantua. His masterpiece of
architecture and fresco painting in that city is the suburban
Palazzo Te, with its famous illusionistic frescos (c. 1525–1535). He
also helped rebuild the ducal palace in Mantua, reconstructed the
cathedral, and designed the nearby Church of San Benedetto. Sections
of Mantua that had been flood-prone were refurbished under Giulio's
direction, and the duke's patronage and friendship never faltered:
Giulio's annual income amounted to more than 1000 ducats. His studio
became a popular school of art.
In Renaissance tradition, many
works of Giulio's were only temporary:
"When Charles V came to Mantua,
Giulio, by the duke's order, made many fine arches, scenes for
comedies and other things, in which he had no peer, no one being
like him for masquerades, and making curious costumes for jousts,
feasts, tournaments, which excited great wonder in the emperor and
in all present. For the city of Mantua at various times he designed
temples, chapels, houses, gardens, facades, and was so fond of
decorating them that, by his industry, he rendered dry, healthy and
pleasant places previously miry, full of stagnant water,and almost
uninhabitable." – Vasari, Vite
He traveled to France in the first half of the 16th century and
brought concepts of the Italian style to the French court of Francis
I. Giulio also designed tapestries and the erotic album I Modi which
was expertly engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi, a project that landed
Raimondi in jail in Rome. In 1546, just as he was appointed
architect to St. Peter's, Giulio Romano died. Giulio Romano has the
distinction of being the only Renaissance artist to be mentioned by
William Shakespeare. In Act V, Scene II of The Winter's Tale Queen
Hermione's statue is by "that rare Italian master, Julio Romano",
although Giulio was not a sculptor.
