BERTOIA, Jacopo

Jacopo Bertoia (or Giacomo Zanguidi), Italian Mannerist painter, strongly influenced by Parmigianino.

Born in Parma, he apparently studied in Bologna with Sabatini. His masterpiece is the Sala del Bacio, in the Palazzo del Giardino in Parma. He also helped decorate the Sala di Orfeo in the same palace. He was part of the team that decorated the walls of the Oratorio del Gonfalone (Entry into Jerusalem) in Rome. He was commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1572-1573 to paint galleries (Sale del Giudizio, della Penitenza, dei Sogni, as well as the Anticamera degli Angeli) of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola, where he replaced the role of Taddeo Zuccaro. He had earlier worked in Caprarola with Federico Zuccari in 1574, painting in the Sala di Ercole.

Bertoia’s were the last genuinely creative manifestations of the Mannerism in Parma (Parmesan Maniera), that style which in a special sense pertained to the city.