Academic Scientific JournalsGiovanni Francesco de Rossi: the early Roman years (1626–1650)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/porta.2025.24.03Keywords:
Giovanni Francesco de Rossi, Domenico de Rossi, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Rome, Baroque sculpture, Stati delle AnimeAbstract
The paper presents new discoveries regarding the early life and artistic development of Giovanni Francesco de Rossi (1626–1677), an Italian Baroque sculptor active both in Italy and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Giovanni Francesco moved to serve the Polish court for reasons still unknown and requiring further research.
Basing on a source from the Archivio Storico del Vicariato di Roma (the recently published Stati delle Anime, including the artist’s baptismal record), this study adds a lot to what is known about de Rossi’s early years in Rome, before he left for Poland in 1651.
According to the source, de Rossi was born in Rome in 1626 to Domenico de Rossi; his godfather was the famed Gianlorenzo Bernini. Domenico, a skilled artist from Fivizzano in the Massa-Carrara region trained under Ambrogio Buonvicino, and later collaborated with Bernini on major commissions in St. Peter’s Basilica. The personal relation between him and Bernini is highlighted by the latter’s role in the baptism of Giovanni Francesco. This connection probably played a crucial role in the careers of both sculptors by enabling them to receive significant commissions and integrate with the Roman artistic élite.
For Giovanni Francesco, it was also the artistic fervour preceding the Jubilee Year 1650 that created a favourable environment for his youthful career, when he also fell more into the sphere of influence of fashionable Alessandro Algardi. His early successes notwithstanding, some archival records indicate that he and his father were regarded as skilled executors of larger artistic commissions obtained by leading sculptors, rather than independent masters. This circumstance, along with lesser art patronage after 1650, could constitute the reasons for the ambitious artist’s move to Poland.
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