Background
He was born in 1606 in Bologna, Italy.
architect painter printmaker draughtsman
He was born in 1606 in Bologna, Italy.
Grimaldi trained in the circle of the Carracci family. He was afterwards a pupil of Cardinal Francesco Albani.
He went to Rome, and was appointed architect to Pope Paul V, and was also patronized by succeeding popes.
Towards 1648 he was invited to France by Cardinal Mazarin, and for about two years was employed in buildings for that minister and for Louis XIV, and in fresco-painting in the Louvre.
His colour was strong, somewhat excessive in the use of green; his touch light.
He painted history, portraits and landscapes - the last with predilection, especially in his advanced years-and executed engravings and etchings from his own landscapes and from those of Titian and the Caracci.
His son Alessandro assisted him both in painting and in engraving.
Paintings by Grimaldi are preserved in the Quirinal and Vatican palaces, and in the church of S. Martino a'Monti; there is also a series of his landscapes in the Colonna Gallery.
His mistress was Elena Aloisi, daughter of the painter Baldassare Aloisi.
