PROCACCINI. – A family of Bolognese painters who later moved to Milan.
ERCOLE IL VECCHIO (the elder), the founder of the family, was born in Bologna in 1515 and died in Milan on 5 January 1595. Lozzo records him as a pupil of Prospero Fontana; his works (the *Madonna and Child* in S. Maria Maggiore in Bologna, dated 1570; *The Fall of St Paul* in S. Giacomo Maggiore, dated 1573; *The Virgin and Child with St Nicholas Presenting the Three Maidens*, also there, dated 1582) show him to have been an eclectic Mannerist, influenced by Roman and Parmesan styles. Between 1585 and 1586 he moved to Milan, where, assisted by his sons, he opened a painting school.