Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Grimaldi, Giovanni Francesco

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1712591Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition — Grimaldi, Giovanni Francesco

GRIMALDI, Giovanni Francesco (1606-1680), an architect and painter, named II Bolognese from the place of his birth, was a relative of the Caracci family, under whom it is presumed he studied first, and afterwards under Albano. He went to Rome, and was appointed architect to Pope Paul V., and patronized by succeeding popes also. Towards 1648 he was invited to France by Cardinal Mazarin, and for about two years was employed in buildings for that minister and for Louis XIV, and in fresco-painting in the Louvre. His colour was strong, somewhat excessive in the use of green ; his touch light. He painted at once history, portraits, and landscape, the last with predilec tion, especially in his advanced years, and executed en gravings and etchings from his own landscapes, and from those of Titian and the Caracci. Returning to Rome, he was made president of the Academy of St Luke ; and in that city he died on 28th November 1680, in high repute not only for his artistic skill but for his upright and charit able deeds as well. His son Alessandro assisted him both in painting and in engraving. Paintings by Grimaldi are preserved in the Quirinal and Vatican palaces, and in the church of S. Martino a Monti ; there is also a series of his landscapes in the Colonna Gallery.