1574 -1625 · Bologna, Milan, Parma and Genoa

Sensual grace, eloquent gestures and vibrant color make Giulio Cesare Procaccini one of the great artisans of the first Lombard Baroque.

Giulio Cesare Procaccini was born in Bologna in 1574 into a family of painters and moved to Milan with his father Ercole and his brothers. He began as a sculptor on the vast construction site of the cathedral, an experience which lastingly marked his taste for powerful bodies, shortcuts and moving groups. Around 1600, he gradually abandoned sculpture for painting. A stay in Emilia led him to study Correggio and Parmesan: he retained the softness of the luminous passages, the supple poses and an elegance capable of transforming devotion into a sensitive experience. In Milan, Procaccini worked for the main churches and for Cardinal Federico Borromeo. He participates with Cerano and Morazzone in the great cycles that defined Lombard painting of the early 17th century, while maintaining a warmer and caressing manner. His figures approach the viewer, the hands speak, the fabrics crumble and the light slides over the skin tones. The commissions of Genoese collector Giovanni Carlo Doria then broaden his reputation and strengthen his dialogue with the color of Genoa. Peace chasing War then expands his reputation and strengthens his dialogue with the color of Genoa. Peace chasing War then condenses this allegorical energy: a diagonal momentum, sculptural bodies and moving draperies give immediate form to the moral idea. In The Annunciation, the luminous irruption of the angel transforms the intimate space of the Virgin. Procaccini also excels in Madonnas, saints and scenes of the Passion, where physical emotion and refinement remain closely linked. Died in Milan in 1625, he left a work which links Emilian mannerism, the fervor of the Counter-Reformation and baroque theatricality. The "Giulio Cesare Procaccini" selection notably compares Virgin and Child with Saint Francis, Saint Dominic and Angels and Peace Chasing War. His reading favors movement.

In Procaccini, the body preserves the memory of the sculptor while color, inherited from Correggio, transforms the religious gesture into a close and luminous emotion.