Orazio Riminaldi

Background

Orazio Riminaldi was born on September 5, 1593 in Pisa, Toscana, Italy, the first of six children.

Education

Orazio was a pupil of the little known painter Rainero Alberghetti, and later studied with Aurelio Lomi in Pisa.

Career

Orazio moved to Rome between 1610 and 1620. There he underwent the influence of the Caravaggist movement most likely through the artists Orazio Gentileschi, Domenichino, Bartolomeo Manfredi but also from Simon Vouet. Unfortunately, no works from his early period survived. The earliest work entitled "Samson Killing the Philistines", which he painted for the Cathedral of Pisa and completed in May 1622, shows the influence of Giovanni Lanfranco and Guido Reni of the Emilian school of painting, combined with the naturalistic Caravaggesque style that he had developed in Rome. His knowledge of the work of contemporary French artists working in Rome is also evident in certain paintings attributed to him, such as the "Daedalus and Icarus."

His "Martyrdom of St. Cecilia", dated to the early 1620s, is regarded as his masterpiece. Riminaldi obviously took direct inspiration for that composition from Caravaggio’s "Martyrdom of St Matthew." He took from Caravaggio’s earlier work the image of the plummeting angel and the violent gesture of the executioner. The "Martyrdom of St. Cecilia" shows further stylistic similarities with the works of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi and Artemisia Gentileschi.

Moreover, Orazio was also active as a portrait artist. He painted a portrait of Curzio Ceuli in about 1627, which is now in private collection in Florence, in a Caravaggesque style not unlike that of Orazio Gentileschi and Valentin de Boulogne. Riminaldi died suddenly in 1630 in Pisa of the plague. His "Assumption of the Virgin" for the Cathedral of Pisa was completed posthumously by his brother Girolamo.

Achievements

• Orazio Riminaldi was highly famous for his works "The sacrifice of Isaac", "Victorious Amor", "Cupid Asleep Approached by Venus in Her Chariot", and his masterpiece "Martyrdom of St Cecilia."

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Amor Victorioso

  • Martyrdom of St. Cecilia

  • Daedalus and Icarus

  • The Sacrifice of Isaac

Connections

Brother:

Girolamo Riminaldi

Brother:

Giovanni Battista Riminaldi

colleague:

Orazio Gentileschi

colleague:

Domenichino

colleague:

Bartolomeo Manfredi

colleague:

Simon Vouet

pupil:

Alessandro Cominotti

pupil:

Giovanni Navarretti