The self-portrait of Gian Paolo Lomazzo, completed in 1568, serves as a dense record of his dual life as a painter and an influential literary figure within Milanese intellectual circles. Through a chiaroscuro style, he depicted himself wearing a straw hat and holding compasses, symbols of his commitment to mathematical precision and the technical demands of the visual arts.
Artistic Formation and Early Career
Born in 1538, Lomazzo received a thorough education before apprenticing under Giovanni Battista della Cerva, an assistant to Gaudenzio Ferrari. By the time he established himself as an independent master, he maintained connections with prominent figures such as Giuliano Gosellini. His early output included murals and altarpieces, though many of these commissions from the 1560s have been lost or remain unidentified.
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Lomazzo’s stylistic evolution was shaped by his observations of Lombard Mannerists, including Aurelio Luini and Pellegrino Tibaldi, alongside a study of Venetian color and the draughtsmanship of Raphael and Michelangelo. He frequently incorporated the complex, foreshortened figures of Mannerism, often utilizing the quadratura technique to plan compositions. His 1565 religious cycle in the Capella Foppa of San Marco remains a primary example of his attempt to fuse monumentality with rhetorical gesture.
Literary Life and Blindness
Beyond his easel, Lomazzo was a central figure in the Accademiglia dra Vall d’Bregn, a social and literary academy founded in 1560. He served as the group’s 'Abbot' starting in 1568. After the progressive loss of his sight rendered painting difficult by 1571, he shifted his focus entirely to art theory and writing. He published his Rime in 1587 and his collected literary works, Rabisch, in 1589.
Theoretical Legacy
Lomazzo produced two major treatises that redefined art criticism. The 1584 Trattato dell'arte della pittura, scoltura et architettura systematized aesthetics across seven categories, including proportion, motion, and light. His later work, the 1590 Idea del tempio della pittura, explored the psychology of artistic invention and the 'four temperaments.' These writings were fundamental to the development of Mannerist theory and were later disseminated in England through Richard Haydocke’s 1596 translation.
Fast facts
- Born: 1538, Milan, Italy
- Died: 1600, Milan, Italy
- Primary Occupations: Painter, art historian, art theorist
- Major Artistic Movement: Italian Renaissance
- Notable Work: Self-portrait of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo (1568)
- Academy Affiliation: Accademiglia dra Vall d’Bregn
Questions readers ask
What caused Lomazzo to shift from painting to writing?
He experienced a progressive loss of his sight beginning in 1571, which eventually made his previous work as a painter impossible.
What is the significance of the compasses in his 1568 self-portrait?
They reflect his professional insistence on mathematical precision and likely refer to the Michelangelesque theory that a painter must possess compasses in their eyes rather than their hands.
Achievements
- Notable work: Self-portrait of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo
- Movement: Italian Renaissance
