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Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi, called Bachiacca (say "bah ki ah cka").^[1] He is also known as Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca (1494–1557). He was an Italian painter of the Renaissance whose work is characteristic of the Florentine Mannerist style.

Life

Bachiacca was born and baptized in Florence on 1 March 1494 and died there on 5 October 1557.^[2]

Bachiacca belonged to a family of at least five, and possibly as many as eight artists. His father Ubertino di Bartolomeo (c. 1446/7-1505) was a goldsmith, his older brother Bartolomeo d'Ubertino Verdi (aka Baccio 1484-c. 1526/9) was a painter, and his younger brother Antonio d'Ubertino Verdi (1499–1572)—who also called himself Bachiacca—was both an embroiderer and painter. Francesco's son Carlo di Francesco Verdi (-1569) painted and Antonio's son Bartolomeo d'Antonio Verdi (aka Baccino -1600) worked as an embroiderer. This latter generation probably continued to produce paintings and embroideries after Bachiacca's death and until the Verdi family extinguished about the year 1600.^[3]

Bachiacca was apprenticed in Perugino's Florentine studio, and by 1515 began to collaborate with Andrea del Sarto, Jacopo Pontormo and Francesco Granacci on the decoration of cassone (chest), spalliera (wainscot), and other painted furnishings for the bedroom of Pierfrancesco Borgherini and Margherita Acciauoli.^[4] In 1523, he again participated with Andrea del Sarto, Franciabigio and Pontormo in the decoration of the antechamber of Giovanni Benintendi.^[5] While he established a reputation as a painter of predellas and small cabinet pictures, he eventually expanded his output to include large altarpieces, such as the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, now in Berlin.

In 1540, Bachiacca became an artist at the court of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici (reg. 1537-1574) and Duchess Eleanor of Toledo. In this capacity, Bachiacca was a colleague and peer of the most important Florentine artists of the age, including Pontormo, Bronzino, Francesco Salviati, Tribolo, Benvenuto Cellini, Baccio Bandinelli, and his in-law, the sculptor Giovanni Battista del Tasso.

Bachiacca's first major commission was to paint the walls and ceiling of the duke's private study with plants, animals and a landscape, which remain an important testimony of Cosimo's interest in botany and the natural sciences.^[6]

Work

Only one signed work by Francesco is known, the decoration of a Terrace for the duchess and her children, with his abbreviated Christian name and nickname: "FRANC. BACHI. FACI."^[7] His works typically contain carefully observed illustrations of nature. The artist's trademark method and style consists of the combination of figures, exotic costumes and other motifs acquired from Italian artists and German and Netherlandish prints into entirely new compositions. These cosmopolitan assemblages exhibited the most praiseworthy elements of both Flemish and Italian Renaissance art, which appealed to his courtly clientele.

Bachiacca also made cartoons for two series of tapestries, the Grotesque Spalliere (1545–49) and the Months (1550–1553), which were woven by the newly founded Medici tapestry works.^[8]

As a court painter, Bachiacca created Saint Sebastian during the 1530s-1540s, on the subject of the death of Saint Sebastian, a Christian nobleman condemned to death by the Roman emperor Diocletian. Originally it was surmised that the panel could have functioned as a section to an altarpiece.^[9]

Works

His works include:

Madonna and Child at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, early 1520s. This painting was used as a 2018 Christmas stamp by the United States Postal Service.
Predella with the Life of St. Achatius, and the Ten Thousand Martyrs,1521 at the Uffizi Gallery online
Portrait of a Young Lute Player, 1524-25, New Orleans Museum of Art
Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo, 1520s, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Also here Archived 2018-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, and Verso and Recto
Madonna and Child with St. John, c. 1525, Dallas Museum of Art
Saint Sebastian, c. 1530s-1540s, Birmingham Museum of Art
The Gathering of Manna, c. 1540/1555, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Deposition c. 1518 at the Web Gallery of Art
Conversion of Saint Paul 1530-1535 at the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York

Gallery

Madonna and Child in a Landscape
St. Lawrence
Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo
Ghismonda, reverse
Eve with Cain and Abel
Portrait of a young lady holding a cat

References

^ The correct period spelling (and the one used by the artist himself) is Bachiacca, with one initial c, like Machiavelli (not "Macchiavelli" [sic]). Italian scholars also prefer Bachiacca, whereas Anglophone scholars favor Bacchiacca [sic]. La France 2008, 127.
^ In the Renaissance, the Florentine New Year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation. Thus, the birth date is recorded in documents as 1 March 1493 in the Florentine manner, would be 1 March 1494 in the modern manner. Archivio dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Battesimi maschi 1492-1501, 33v.
^ La France 2008, 32-38.
^ La France 2008, 141-150, cat. 8-13.
^ La France 2008, 174-80, cat. 32-33
^ La France 2008, 220-223, cat. 65; Francesco Vossilla, "Cosimo I, lo scrittoio del Bachiacca, una carcassa di capodoglio e la filosofia naturale," and Maria Adele Signorini, "Sulle piante dipinte del Bachiacca nello scrittoio di Cosimo I a Palazzo Vecchio," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 37, no. 2/3 (1993): 381-407.
^ La France 2008, 364-267, cat. 89.
^ La France 2008, 229-244, cat. 69-78 and 257-264, cat. 85-88; Lucia Meoni, Gli arazzi della collezione fiorentina: le manifatture medicee da Cosimo I a Cosimo II, 1545-1621 (Florence: Sillabe), 1998, 172-184 and 143-146.
^ Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection. Birmingham, Ala: Birmingham Museum of Art. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5.

Sources

La France, Robert G. (2008). Bachiacca: Artist of the Medici Court. Leo S. Olschki. [1]
Freedberg, Sydney J. (1993). Pelican History of Art (ed.). Painting in Italy, 1500-1600. Penguin Books. p. 240.

External links

Media related to Francesco Bacchiacca at Wikimedia Commons
Italian Paintings: Florentine School, a collection catalog containing information about Bacchiacca and his works (see pages: 193-195; MMA #38.178).

[1] The correct period spelling (and the one used by the artist himself) is Bachiacca, with one initial c, like Machiavelli (not "Macchiavelli" [sic]). Italian scholars also prefer Bachiacca, whereas Anglophone scholars favor Bacchiacca [sic]. La France 2008, 127.

[2] In the Renaissance, the Florentine New Year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation. Thus, the birth date is recorded in documents as 1 March 1493 in the Florentine manner, would be 1 March 1494 in the modern manner. Archivio dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Battesimi maschi 1492-1501, 33v.

[3] La France 2008, 32-38.

[4] La France 2008, 141-150, cat. 8-13.

[5] La France 2008, 174-80, cat. 32-33

[6] La France 2008, 220-223, cat. 65; Francesco Vossilla, "Cosimo I, lo scrittoio del Bachiacca, una carcassa di capodoglio e la filosofia naturale," and Maria Adele Signorini, "Sulle piante dipinte del Bachiacca nello scrittoio di Cosimo I a Palazzo Vecchio," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 37, no. 2/3 (1993): 381-407.

[7] La France 2008, 364-267, cat. 89.

[8] La France 2008, 229-244, cat. 69-78 and 257-264, cat. 85-88; Lucia Meoni, Gli arazzi della collezione fiorentina: le manifatture medicee da Cosimo I a Cosimo II, 1545-1621 (Florence: Sillabe), 1998, 172-184 and 143-146.

[BMA-9] Birmingham Museum of Art (2010). Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection. Birmingham, Ala: Birmingham Museum of Art. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Italian painter}}
 [[File:Bacchiacca - Portrait of a Woman and Child - Allegory of Liberality.jpg|thumb|240px|Portrait of a Woman and Child (Allegory of Liberality)]]
-'''Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi''', called '''Bachiacca'''<ref>The correct period spelling (and the one used by the artist himself) is Bachiacca, with one initial c, like Machiavelli (not "Macchiavelli" [sic]). Italian scholars also prefer Bachiacca, whereas Anglophone scholars favor Bacchiacca [sic]. La France 2008, 127.</ref> [also known as '''Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca'''] (1494–1557) was an [[Italy|Italian]] painter of the [[Renaissance]] whose work is characteristic of the Florentine [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] style.
+'''Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi''', called '''Bachiacca''' (say "bah ki ah cka").<ref>The correct period spelling (and the one used by the artist himself) is Bachiacca, with one initial c, like Machiavelli (not "Macchiavelli" [sic]). Italian scholars also prefer Bachiacca, whereas Anglophone scholars favor Bacchiacca [sic]. La France 2008, 127.</ref> He is also known as '''Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca''' (1494–1557).  He was an Italian painter of the [[Renaissance]] whose work is characteristic of the Florentine [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] style.
 ==Life==
 Bachiacca was born and baptized in Florence on 1 March 1494 and died there on 5 October 1557.<ref>In the Renaissance, the Florentine New Year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation.  Thus, the birth date is recorded in documents as 1 March 1493 in the Florentine manner, would be 1 March  1494 in the modern manner.  Archivio dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, ''Battesimi maschi 1492-1501'', 33v.</ref>
-[[File:Saint Sebastian by Bacchiacca - BMA.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Saint Sebastian]]
+[[File:Saint Sebastian by Bacchiacca - BMA.jpg|thumb|200px|Saint Sebastian]]
-Bachiacca belonged to a family of at least five, and possibly as many as eight artists.  His father Ubertino di Bartolomeo (ca. 1446/7-1505) was a goldsmith, his older brother Bartolomeo d'Ubertino Verdi (aka Baccio 1484-c.1526/9) was a painter, and his younger brother Antonio d'Ubertino Verdi (1499–1572)—who also called himself Bachiacca—was both an embroiderer and painter. Francesco's son Carlo di Francesco Verdi (-1569) painted and Antonio's son Bartolomeo d'Antonio Verdi (aka Baccino -1600) worked as an embroiderer. This latter generation probably continued to produce paintings and embroideries after Bachiacca's death and until the Verdi family extinguished about the year 1600.<ref>La France 2008, 32-38.</ref>
+Bachiacca belonged to a family of at least five, and possibly as many as eight artists.  His father Ubertino di Bartolomeo ({{circa|1446}}/7-1505) was a goldsmith, his older brother Bartolomeo d'Ubertino Verdi (aka Baccio 1484-{{circa|1526}}/9) was a painter, and his younger brother Antonio d'Ubertino Verdi (1499–1572)—who also called himself Bachiacca—was both an embroiderer and painter. Francesco's son Carlo di Francesco Verdi (-1569) painted and Antonio's son Bartolomeo d'Antonio Verdi (aka Baccino -1600) worked as an embroiderer. This latter generation probably continued to produce paintings and embroideries after Bachiacca's death and until the Verdi family extinguished about the year 1600.<ref>La France 2008, 32-38.</ref>
-Bachiacca  apprenticed in [[Perugino]]'s Florentine studio, and by 1515 began to collaborate with [[Andrea del Sarto]], [[Jacopo Pontormo]] and [[Francesco Granacci]] on the decoration of ''[[cassone]]'' (chest), ''[[spalliera]]'' (wainscot), and other painted furnishings for the bedroom of Pierfrancesco Borgherini and Margherita Acciauoli.<ref>La France 2008, 141-150, cat. 8-13.</ref> In 1523, he again participated with Andrea del Sarto, [[Franciabigio]] and Pontormo in the decoration of the antechamber of Giovanni Benintendi.<ref>La France 2008, 174-80, cat. 32-33</ref> While he established a reputation as a painter of predellas and small cabinet pictures, he eventually expanded his output to include large altarpieces, such as the ''Beheading of St. John the Baptist'', now in Berlin.
+Bachiacca was apprenticed in [[Perugino]]'s Florentine studio, and by 1515 began to collaborate with [[Andrea del Sarto]], [[Jacopo Pontormo]] and [[Francesco Granacci]] on the decoration of ''[[cassone]]'' (chest), ''[[spalliera]]'' (wainscot), and other painted furnishings for the bedroom of Pierfrancesco Borgherini and Margherita Acciauoli.<ref>La France 2008, 141-150, cat. 8-13.</ref> In 1523, he again participated with Andrea del Sarto, [[Franciabigio]] and Pontormo in the decoration of the antechamber of Giovanni Benintendi.<ref>La France 2008, 174-80, cat. 32-33</ref> While he established a reputation as a painter of predellas and small cabinet pictures, he eventually expanded his output to include large altarpieces, such as the ''Beheading of St. John the Baptist'', now in Berlin.
 In 1540, Bachiacca became an artist at the court of Duke [[Cosimo I de' Medici]] (reg. 1537-1574) and Duchess [[Eleanor of Toledo]]. In this capacity, Bachiacca was a colleague and peer of the most important Florentine artists of the age, including Pontormo, [[Bronzino]], [[Francesco de' Rossi (Il Salviati)|Francesco Salviati]], [[Tribolo]], [[Benvenuto Cellini]], [[Baccio Bandinelli]], and his in-law, the sculptor [[Giovanni Battista del Tasso]].
@@ Line 20: / Line 22: @@
 Bachiacca also made cartoons for two series of tapestries, the ''Grotesque Spalliere'' (1545–49) and the ''Months'' (1550–1553), which were woven by the newly founded Medici tapestry works.<ref>La France 2008, 229-244, cat. 69-78 and 257-264, cat. 85-88; Lucia Meoni, ''Gli arazzi della collezione fiorentina: le manifatture medicee da Cosimo I a Cosimo II, 1545-1621'' (Florence: Sillabe), 1998, 172-184 and 143-146.</ref>
-As a court painter, Bachiacca created ''Saint Sebastian'' during the 1530s-1540s, on the subject of the death of [[Saint Sebastian]], a Christian nobleman condemned to death by the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]]. Originally it was surmised that the panel could have functioned as a section to an altarpiece.<ref name=BMA>{{cite book|last=[[Birmingham Museum of Art]]|title=Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection|year=2010|publisher=Birmingham Museum of Art|location=[Birmingham, Ala]|isbn=978-1-904832-77-5|pages=159|url=http://artsbma.org}}</ref>
+As a court painter, Bachiacca created ''Saint Sebastian'' during the 1530s-1540s, on the subject of the death of [[Saint Sebastian]], a Christian nobleman condemned to death by the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]]. Originally it was surmised that the panel could have functioned as a section to an altarpiece.<ref name=BMA>{{cite book|last=Birmingham Museum of Art|author-link=Birmingham Museum of Art|title=Birmingham Museum of Art : guide to the collection|year=2010|publisher=Birmingham Museum of Art|location=Birmingham, Ala |isbn=978-1-904832-77-5 |pages=159|url=http://artsbma.org}}</ref>
 == Works ==
 His works include:
-*Madonna and Child at the [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435595 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York], early 1520s.
+*Madonna and Child at the [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435595 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York], early 1520s. This painting was used as a [https://uspsblog.com/holidaystamps/ 2018 Christmas stamp by the United States Postal Service.]
 * ''Predella with the Life of St. Achatius,'' and the Ten Thousand Martyrs,1521 at the  [https://www.virtualuffizi.com/francesco-ubertini-called-bachiacca.html Uffizi Gallery online]
 *''Portrait of a Young Lute Player,'' 1524-25, [https://noma.org/collection/portrait-of-a-young-lute-player/ New Orleans Museum of Art]
+*''Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo,'' 1520s, [https://emuseum1.as.miami.edu/objects/8769/ghismonda-with-the-heart-of-guiscardo Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami], [https://www.bridgemanimages.com/fr/asset/410531/bacchiacca-francesco-ubertini-il-1494-1557/ghismonda-with-the-heart-of-guiscardo-1520s-oil-on-wood Also here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127234327/https://www.bridgemanimages.com/fr/asset/410531/bacchiacca-francesco-ubertini-il-1494-1557/ghismonda-with-the-heart-of-guiscardo-1520s-oil-on-wood |date=2018-11-27 }}, and [https://www.alamy.com/ghismonda-with-heart-of-guiscardo-by-bacchiacca-1520s-oil-on-wood-lowe-art-museum-image207009039.html Verso] and [http://www.mappingpaintings.org/paintings/lu2ii686-ghismonda-with-the-heart-of-guiscardo-recto Recto]
-*''Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo,'' 1520s, [[Lowe Art Museum]]
 *''Madonna and Child with St. John,'' c. 1525, [https://collections.dma.org/artwork/4282963 Dallas Museum of Art]
-*''Saint Sebastian,'' c. 1530s-1540s, [[Birmingham Museum of Art]]
+*''Saint Sebastian,'' c. 1530s-1540s, [https://artsbma.org/collection/saint-sebastian/ Birmingham Museum of Art]
-*''The Gathering of Manna, '' c. 1540/1555, [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C.
+*''The Gathering of Manna'', c. 1540/1555, [https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41614.html National Gallery of Art], Washington D.C.
 *''Deposition'' c. 1518 at the [https://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/bacchiac/depositi.html Web Gallery of Art]
-*''Conversion of Saint Paul'' ([[Memorial Art Gallery]], Rochester, New York)
+*''Conversion of Saint Paul'' 1530-1535 at the [http://magart.rochester.edu/Obj4134 Memorial Art Gallery], Rochester, New York
+==Gallery==
+<gallery>
+File:Madonna and Child in a Landscape2.jpg|Madonna and Child in a Landscape
+File:S. Lawrence by Bacchiacca (Hermitage).jpg|St. Lawrence
+File:'Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo', by Bacchiacca, 1520s, oil on wood, Lowe Art Museum.JPG|[[Ghismonda]] with Heart of Guiscardo
+File:'Ghismonda with Heart of Guiscardo', by Bacchiacca, reverse with coat of arms, 1520s.JPG|Ghismonda, reverse
+File:Bacchiacca - Eva con Caino e Abele (Metropolitan Museum of Art).jpg|Eve with Cain and Abel
+File:Bacchiacca - Portrait of a young lady holding a cat.jpg|Portrait of a young lady holding a cat
+</gallery>
 == References ==
@@ Line 39: / Line 51: @@
 == Sources ==
-*{{cite book | first= Robert G.| last= La France| year=2008| title= Bachiacca: Artist of the Medici Court| others=  |publisher=Leo S. Olschki}} [http://www.olschki.it/Prosp/SP/2007/57642.pdf]
+*{{cite book | first= Robert G.| last= La France| year=2008| title= Bachiacca: Artist of the Medici Court|publisher=Leo S. Olschki}} [http://www.olschki.it/Prosp/SP/2007/57642.pdf]
-*{{cite book | first= Sydney J.| last= Freedberg| year=1993| title= Painting in Italy, 1500-1600| editor= Pelican History of Art| others=  |publisher=Penguin Books| page= 240}}
+*{{cite book | first= Sydney J.| last= Freedberg| year=1993| title= Painting in Italy, 1500-1600| editor= Pelican History of Art|publisher=Penguin Books| page= 240}}
 ==External links==
@@ Line 50: / Line 62: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacchiacca, Francesco}}
 [[Category:Italian Renaissance painters]]
-[[Category:Mannerist painters]]
+[[Category:Italian Mannerist painters]]
-[[Category:Florentine painters]]
+[[Category:Painters from Florence]]
-[[Category:15th-century Italian painters]]
 [[Category:Italian male painters]]
 [[Category:16th-century Italian painters]]

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