Sunday, April 16, 2017

Drawings by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called Baciccia

Pietro Campania after Domenico Campiglia
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Gaulli
ca. 1731-66
engraving
British Museum

Giuseppe Macpherson after Pietro Campania
Portrait miniature of Giovanni Battista Gaulli
ca. 1772
watercolor on ivory
Royal Collection, Windsor

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639-1709) was born and trained in Genoa, but settled in Rome at an early age after losing his family to the plague. The fortune of this sad orphan was quickly made, however, when he became protégé to that foremost genius of the baroque, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Rich commissions followed  Gaulli spent his life covering walls and ceilings with florid and orthodox narratives. His most conspicuous accomplishment remains the illusionistic fresco-work in the Gesù, flagship-church of the Jesuit Order.

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Portrait of Jesuit Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino
ca. 1678
drawing
British Museum

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Portrait of Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi
ca. 1676-89
wash drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Flying Angel for ceiling fresco
Church of the Gesù, Rome

ca. 1685
drawing
British Museum

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Flying Angel for ceiling fresco
Church of the Gesù, Rome

ca. 1685
drawing
British Museum

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Sacrifice of Noah
ca. 1670-75
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Allegory of Justice
ca. 1668-71
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Boy with Tambourine
ca. 1690
drawing
British Museum

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Putti supporting wreath for cupola fresco
Church of the Gesù, Rome

ca. 1670-75
drawing
British Museum

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Allegorical figure of faith
ca. 1672
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Allegorical composition
Music and Justice with the Spinola arms

ca. 1694
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Allegory of the Immaculate Conception
before 1709
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Ceiling design with Christ in Glory
before 1709
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Prophets, Patriarchs, Saints, and music-making Angels in Glory
ca. 1690
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York