# jacopo ligozzi ![[ligozzi.jpg|300]] born: 1547 verona died: 1627 florence nationality: italian known for: painting movement: mannerism ![[allegoryoftheredemption.jpg|300]] the allegory of the redemption; madrid prado museum jacopo ligozzi (1547-1627) was an italian painter illustrator designer and miniaturist. ir art can be categorised as late-renaissance and mannerist styles # biography born in verona ey was the son of the artist giovanni ermano ligozzi and part of a large family of painters and artisans. after a time in the habsburg court in vienna where ey displayed drawings of animal and botanical specimens ey was invited to come to florence and became one of the court artists for the medici upon the death of giorgio vasari in 1574 ey became head of the accademia e compagnia delle arti del disegno the officially patronised guild of artists which was often called to advise on diverse projects. ey served francesco i ferdinando i cosimo ii and ferdinando ii grand dukes of tuscany. for the medici ey adorned the grotto of thetys in the colossus of the apennine. ey was named director of the grand-ducal galleria dei lavori a workshop providing designs for artworks made mainly for export: embroidered textiles and for the newly popular medium of pietre dure mosaics of semiprecious stones and colored marbles ey painted frescoes depicting episodes from the life of st. francis of assisi for the cloister of the ognissanti. ey also painted a canvas of st. raymond resuscitating a child for santa maria novella and martyrdom of st. dorothea for the church of the conventuali at pescia. ir altarpieces depict crowds in staged positions robbed of emotion; the paintings breathe an academic staleness that is typical of florentine painting of the age in ir many pen-and-wash drawings featuring religious mythological or heraldic images ligozzi demonstrated a greater originality. ey is known best for ir depictions of fauna and flora which reflect the nascent scientific pursuits of the medici. ir botanically correct depictions of plants can even include exquisitely observed root systems. among ir accurate depictions of animals is a marmot with a branch of plums (1605.) ligozzi was commissioned to create some of the depictions found in the encyclopedic visual catalogue of the plant collections of bolognese ulisse aldrovandi (kept in the gabinetto disegni e stampe of the uffizi gallery.) ey can be described as the audubon of late renaissance florence. ey is also credited with bringing the lusher colour-palette of verona to florence ![[220px-jacopoligozzi-amarmotwithabranchofplums-1605-.jpg|300]] a marmot with a branch of plums 1605 now in the us national gallery of art (nga 139309) ligozzi was influential among some subsequent florentines including bartolomeo bimbi. among ir pupils were donato mascagni known as frate arsenio and mario balassi. ligozzi's nephew bartolommeo ligozzi was also a painter. in florence ey worked on some projects with bernardino poccetti. both agostino carracci and andrea andreani engraved some of ir works. ey died in florence # sources **+** john seabrook "annals of agriculture: renaissance pears" the new yorker september 5 2005 p. 105 **+** getty center biography **+** national gallery art exhibition titled the flowering of florence: botanical art for the medici **+** tomasi lucia tongiorgi (1993.) i ritratti di piante di iacopo ligozzi. pisa: pacini. 79-3 // republic of bob