TIARINI, ALESSANDRO. — Painter, born in Bologna on 23 March 1577, died there on 8 February 1668. He began his artistic training with Prospero Fontana and subsequently with Bartolomeo Cesi.
After remaining for some time under the influence of the Tuscan school, T. then turned decisively toward Carracci-style eclecticism, especially that of Ludovico, displaying a rich narrative vein, not insensitive to the color of the Venetian sixteenth-century painters; through his strong chiaroscuro, he accentuated the pathetic effects of sacred subjects, in which he excelled. His production was, one might say, inexhaustible, and took place chiefly in Bologna, but also in Reggio Emilia (1618–26 and after 1650), Romagna, the Lucchesia, and Cremona. Although endowed with extraordinary facility in invention and execution, T. left no notable works in the field of fresco painting. As an oil painter, on the other hand, he alternates exceptionally felicitous insights with periods of stagnation and conventionalism; hence one must consider his undeniable virtues in certain individual works, which rank among the noblest of the Italian seventeenth century. The most substantial group is in the Pinacoteca of Bologna: a dramatic, well-composed Pietà; the Ecstasy of s. Caterina da Siena, with its well-chosen vertical rhythms and realistic details; the large lunette of the Virgin and Child, venerated by ss. Carlo Borromeo and Matteo and by b. Raniero; and a solid portrait of a gentlewoman. Also in Bologna, the Baroque Presentation of the Virgin, in the choir of S. Maria dei Servi, deserves mention, and above all the luminous canvas, unusually vivid in color, of S. Martino reviving the widow’s son, in the Museo di S. Stefano. Other memorable works are found in the Museo civico of Reggio Emilia, including the Miracle of s. Giovanni and the aristocratic portrait of the countess Camilla Ruggeri Brami. T.’s perspicacious ability to respond to the pre-Romantic spirit of Tasso is further attested by the ample idyllic scene of Rinaldo e Armida, in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.