GIOSEPPE MARIA CRESPI, called "lo Spagnolo." — Painter, born in Bologna on March 16, 1665, died there on July 16, 1747. He first studied in his native city with Domenico Maria Canuti, then with the eccentric Antonio Burrini; he subsequently completed his artistic education by traveling and observing the works of the Baroque, the Carracci, and Guercino.
A youthful work by Crespi is the canvas depicting *The Temptations of St. Anthony* in the church of S. Niccolò degli Albari in Bologna (1690), where the influence of Canuti’s Baroque is evident. Soon, however, his personal style emerges in works of exceptional importance, such as the two frescoed ceilings with *The Seasons* and *The Banquet of the Gods* in the Palazzo Pepoli in Bologna (1691). His luminous painting is characterized by vivid contrasts of color and chiaroscuro, with dark tones thickening in the foregrounds in contrast to bright silver notes. He painted many altarpieces, including: *The Ecstasy of St. Margaret*, from the Diocesan Museum of Cortona; *The Virgin with SS. John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and Stephen* from the cathedral of Sarzana (1722); *The Miracle of St. Francis Xavier* from the church of the Gesù in Ferrara; and *The Assumption of the Virgin* from the church of the Crocefisso dei Bianchi in Lucca. However, his finest works are the biblical and genre paintings, now in Italian and foreign collections, some of small dimensions, in which he sometimes infused his own burlesque and popular vein. Among these are: *The Massacre of the Innocents* (1706) and *The Fair at Poggio a Caiano* (1909) in the Uffizi; *The Farm* and *The Painter’s Family* in the Pinacoteca of Bologna. The immediacy of expression in his brushwork and the careful observation of
(from H. Voss, G. M. Crespi, *Bibl. d'art. ill.*, series, fasc. V, 1921)
GIOSEPPE MARIA CRESPI — *Self-Portrait* (drawing).
Milan, Accademia di Brera.
CRESPI DE VALDAURA Y BORJA LUÍS — CRETE
definibilitatis proximae sententiae piae negantis B. V. M. in suae conceptionis primo istanti originali labe fuisse infectam (Valencia 1653); the Pope was induced by C. to issue the constitution *Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum*. C. also published a severe condemnation of the theater (ibid. 1649), and *Quaestiones selectae morales*, in quibus novae aliquae doctrinae Joan. Caramuelis episc. missiensis refutantur (Lyons 1658).