Giulio Romano
Portrait of Giulio Romano (c.1536) by Titian
Also known as Giulio Pippi. Architect, painter, and draftsman; a major exponent of Mannerism. Student and assistant of Raphael; strongly influenced by his later style as well as by the work of Michelangelo. Finished several of Raphael’s commissions after his death.
Author of a famous series of pornographic engravings. Threatened with prison in Rome, Giulio moved to Mantua under the protection of the Gonzaga family; where he created the most famous architectural work – Mantua’s Palazzo del Tè.
In paintings, he is similar to Raphael, but he has a sharp manner, a naturalistic approach, emphasized muscular bodies, and eroticism. In architecture, look for deliberate “mistakes” such as the lack of an obligatory center; the optical effects, such as the illusion of falling columns that are actually standing firmly; the uneven, unfinished, stonework.
Giulio Romano’s major works are Crowning of the Virgin (Madonna of Monteluce), c. 1505–25 (Rome: Vatican Museums); Mary Magdalene Borne by Angels, c. 1520 (London: National Gallery); The Holy Family, c. 1520–23 (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum); The Fall of the Giants, 1532–34 (Mantua: Palazzo de Tè).
References:
- Robert Cumming. Art: complete encyclopedia. – 512 p. – Moscow: Astrel, 2005.
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