Albani, Francesco

ALBANI, FRANCESCO. - Painter, b. in Bologna on 17 March 1578, d. there on 4 Oct. 1660. Together with Reni he first studied under Calvaert and then at the Accademia dei Carracci, of whom he became a collaborator. He worked in Rome from about 1600 to 1616, when he returned to Bologna. A. is particularly famous for his idyllic and mythological subjects (Danza degli Amori in the Brera gallery) treated with affectation and prettiness. Among his sacred paintings, pleasing for their sense of freshness and serenity, we may recall the Battesimo di Cristo in the Pinacoteca of Bologna, the SS. Giovanni e Rocco in the Collegiata of Persiceto, and the Gesù Bambino cui viene annunciata la Passione, in the church of Galliera. In Rome he painted in S. Maria della Pace, in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli and in the gallery of Palazzo Verospi. He also concerned himself with questions of artistic theory and around 1635 began a treatise in collaboration with O. Zamboni; Malvasia, who shared A.'s theoretical attitude, reported on it, publishing some extracts from it.