Giuseppe Maria Crespi

Giuseppe Maria Crespi, March 14, 1665–July 16, 1747, was an Italian painter born and active chiefly in Bologna. He first studied with Angelo Michele Toni, then with Domenico Maria Canuti, Carlo Cignani, and Giovanni Antonio Burrini. He also studied works by Correggio, Barocci, and Venetian painters during travels in northern Italy.

Crespi became known as lo Spagnolo and developed an independent style informed by Bolognese traditions and a broad range of Italian and northern European painting. He established a school in Bologna whose pupils included more than thirty artists; among those associated with his circle were Pietro Longhi and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. His sons Luigi, Ferdinando, and Antonio Liborio also trained under him.

His works are held in major collections including the Uffizi Galleries, the Louvre, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the State Hermitage Museum, and the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza.

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