Tiarini, Alessandro

TIARINI, ALESSANDRO. - Painter, b. in Bologna on 23 March 1577, d. there on 8 February 1668. He began his training in art with Prospero Fontana and then with Bartolomeo Cesi.

After remaining for some time under the influence of the Tuscan school, T. then oriented himself decisively toward Carraccesque eclecticism, especially that of Ludovico, displaying a rich narrative vein, not insensitive to the color of the Venetian Cinquecentists, and by means of strong chiaroscuro he accentuated the pathetic effects of the sacred subjects in which he excelled. His production was, one might say, without respite and was carried out mainly in Bologna, but also in Reggio Emilia (1618-26 and after 1650), in Romagna, in the Lucca area and in Cremona. Although endowed with extraordinary facility in inventing and executing, T. left no remarkable works in the field of fresco. As an oil painter, on the other hand, he alternates highly felicitous intuitions with stasis and conventionalisms, so that his undeniable virtues must be considered in certain individual works, which rank among the noblest of the Italian Seicento. The most conspicuous group is in the Pinacoteca of Bologna: a dramatic, well-architected Pietà, the Ecstasy of St. Catherine of Siena, with its well-conceived vertical rhythms and realistic details, the lunette of the Virgin with the Child, venerated by Sts. Charles Borromeo and Matthew and by the Blessed Raniero, and a solid portrait of a gentlewoman. Also in Bologna, worthy of mention are the Baroque Presentation of the Virgin, in the choir of S. Maria dei Servi, and above all the luminous canvas, unusually vivid in color, of St. Martin Raising the Widow's Son in the Museum of S. Stefano. Other memorable works are found in the Museo civico of Reggio Emilia: such as the Miracle of St. John and the aristocratic portrait of Countess Camilla Ruggeri Brami. The broad idyllic scene of Rinaldo and Armida, in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, further attests to T.'s perspicuous ability to adhere to the pre-Romantic spirit of Tasso.

Alberto Neppi