ALBANI, or ALBANO,

See also:

• FRANCESCO
• FRANCESCO, 210

FRANCESCO  -(I578-4166o), Italian painter, was born at Bologna . His father was a silk merchant, and intended to bring up his son to the same occupation; but Albani was already, at the age of twelve, filled with so strong an inclination for painting, that on the death of his father he devoted himself entirely to alt . His first master, was Denis qalvert,,with whom Guido Reni was at the same time a pupil .. He was soon left by Calvert entirely to the care of Guido, and contracted with him a close friendship . He followed Guido to the school of the Caracci; but after this, owing to mutual rivalry, their ,friendship began gradually to cool . They kept up for a long time a keen competition, and their mutual emulation called forth some' of their best productions . Notwithstanding this rivalry, they still spoke of each other with the highest esteem . Albani after having greatly improved himself in the school of the Caracci; went to Rome, where he opened an academy And resided for many years . Here he painted, after the designs of Annibal Caracci, the whole of the frescoes in the chapel of San Diego in the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli . His best frescoes are those on mythological subjects, of which there is a large number in the Verospi, now Torlonia Palace . On the death of his wife he returned to Bologna, where he married a second time and resided till his death . His wife and children were very beautiful and served him for models .

The learning displayed in the

composition of his pictures, and their minute elaboration and exquisite finish, gave them great celebrity and entitle them to a , distinctive place among the products of the Bolognese school . A number of his works are at Bologna, and others at Florence, the, Louvre, Dresden and St Petersburg . Among the best of his sacred subjects are a "St Sebastian " and an "Assumption, of the Virgin," both in the church of St Sebastian at Rome . He was among the first of the Italian painters to devote himself to the painting of cabinet pictures . A rare etching, the " Death of Dido," is attributed to him .