Lazzaro Baldi was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. He was born in the town of Pistoia in Tuscany, where he was taught painting by little-known local masters. Baldi then moved to Rome, driven by the fame of his fellow painter and architect Pietro da Cortona (his real name was Berrettini). He became the mentor of the young Tuscan and initially helped him find commissions.
Pietro da Cortona trained Baldi in the art of fresco painting. Baldi’s first publicly significant and available work was probably the portrayal of St. Francis in the Church of San Marco in Rome. He then painted a scene of “David and Goliath” for Alexander VII in the Palazzo Quirinale. In this work the artist’s style is already taking shape, filled with light tones that would become typical of his later frescoes.
Gradually Baldi came to a personal interpretation of the vibrant and decorative trend that was dominant in Rome at the time along with the academic movement. Baldi accepted the compositional formulas and typology of the Baroque, but not the very impulse of this style.
In depicting landscapes, he was influenced by Gaspar Dughuet, a French classicist painter, and Pier Francesco Mola. He worked mainly in Rome, but also painted frescoes in the churches of Camerino, Pistoia and Perugia. As an engraver Baldi is known for “The Conversion of St. Paul”.
Baldi’s painting “The Old Man Praying” has a second title, “Head of an Apostle”. Almost the entire pictorial space is occupied by the image of a half-naked old man with a beard. His terracotta robe with white trim has slipped from his left shoulder. His head is raised, with his eyes lifted to heaven; his left hand clasped to his chest, his whole posture and gaze are an appeal to the Lord in prayer.
The image is based on light and shadow contrasts, with the illuminated face, the left side of the figure, and the hand standing out from the general darkness. The work was clearly influenced by the great Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The paintings of his followers, the Caravaggisti, combine the power of realism and the drama of the Baroque in their paintings. Their works are easily recognizable for their expressive color contrasts, masterful art of light and bold use of red and black dominants. Caravaggio did not organize workshops, formulate manifestos, or set forth philosophical approaches, but the influence of his ideas of psychological realism can be felt in the paintings of many artists.
Pietro da Cortona trained Baldi in the art of fresco painting. Baldi’s first publicly significant and available work was probably the portrayal of St. Francis in the Church of San Marco in Rome. He then painted a scene of “David and Goliath” for Alexander VII in the Palazzo Quirinale. In this work the artist’s style is already taking shape, filled with light tones that would become typical of his later frescoes.
Gradually Baldi came to a personal interpretation of the vibrant and decorative trend that was dominant in Rome at the time along with the academic movement. Baldi accepted the compositional formulas and typology of the Baroque, but not the very impulse of this style.
In depicting landscapes, he was influenced by Gaspar Dughuet, a French classicist painter, and Pier Francesco Mola. He worked mainly in Rome, but also painted frescoes in the churches of Camerino, Pistoia and Perugia. As an engraver Baldi is known for “The Conversion of St. Paul”.
Baldi’s painting “The Old Man Praying” has a second title, “Head of an Apostle”. Almost the entire pictorial space is occupied by the image of a half-naked old man with a beard. His terracotta robe with white trim has slipped from his left shoulder. His head is raised, with his eyes lifted to heaven; his left hand clasped to his chest, his whole posture and gaze are an appeal to the Lord in prayer.
The image is based on light and shadow contrasts, with the illuminated face, the left side of the figure, and the hand standing out from the general darkness. The work was clearly influenced by the great Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The paintings of his followers, the Caravaggisti, combine the power of realism and the drama of the Baroque in their paintings. Their works are easily recognizable for their expressive color contrasts, masterful art of light and bold use of red and black dominants. Caravaggio did not organize workshops, formulate manifestos, or set forth philosophical approaches, but the influence of his ideas of psychological realism can be felt in the paintings of many artists.
