GIOVANNI

FRANCESCO

See also:

• GIOVANNI FRANCESCO GRIMALDI (1606-168o)
• GRIMALDI, JOSEPH (1779–1837)

GRIMALDI (1606-168o)  , Italian architect and painter, named Il Bolognese from the place of his birth, was a relative of the Caracci family, under whom it is presumed he studied first . He was afterwards a pupil of Albani . He went to Rome, and was appointed architect to Pope Paul V., and was also patronized by succeeding popes . Towards 1648 he was invited to France by Cardinal Mazarin, and for about two years was employed in buildings for that minister and for Louis XIV., and in fresco-painting in the Louvre . His colour was strong, somewhat excessive in the use of green; his touch light . He painted history, portraits and landscapes—the last with predilection, especially in his advanced years—and executed engravings and etchings from his own landscapes and from those of Titian and the Caracci . Returning to Rome, he was made president of the Academy of St Luke; and in that city he died on the 28th of November 1680, in high repute not only for his artistic skill but for his upright and charitable deeds . His son Alessandro assisted him both in painting and in engraving . Paintings by Grimaldi are preserved in the Quirinal and Vatican palaces, and in the church of S . Martino a'Monti; there is also a series of his landscapes in the Colonna Gallery .