VIGNALI, Jacopo - b. 1592 Pratovecchio, d. 1664 Firenze - WGA

VIGNALI, Jacopo

(b. 1592 Pratovecchio, d. 1664 Firenze)

Italian painter. At an early age he entered the studio of Matteo Rosselli in Florence, and his first works, Virgin and Saints (1616; Santa Brigida, Santuario della Madonna del Sasso, Florence) and the ceiling painting Love of the Fatherland (1616; Casa Buonarroti, Florence), were influenced by Rosselli and Ludovico Cigoli. In 1616 he enrolled at the Accademia del Disegno in Florence, becoming an academician in 1622.

In the 1620s he moved away from Rosselli’s influence and developed a style distinguished by dramatic light effects, rich colour and painterly technique and by the expression of deep emotion. The decade opened with the Investiture of St Benedict (1620; Seminario Maggiore, Florence), one of a series of works painted in honour of St Benedict for the Confraternità di San Benedetto Bianco, to which Vignali had belonged since 1614. Having learnt the technique of fresco painting from Rosselli, he also began to work in that medium and was involved in the decoration of the Casa Buonarroti throughout the decade, the ceiling fresco Jacob’s Dream dating from 1621. In 1622-23 he also contributed to important fresco cycles for the Medici at the Casino Mediceo di San Marco in Florence, and at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale just outside the city.

From around 1622, when he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno, Vignali began his career as an independent artist and executed numerous commissions throughout Tuscany. He was retiring yet affable, a Florentine with no interest in leaving Florence, a bachelor dedicated to his profession, as an exemplar of piety. Vignali enjoyed a productive career, and on his death the members of the Accademia del Disegno buried him with honours.

Among his pupils were Domenico Bettini, Romolo Panfi, Alessandro Rosi, and Carlo Dolci.

Jael and Sisera

Sisera was a cruel Canaanite leader who ruled the Israelites for twenty years. Barak defeated his nine hundred charioteers by a surprise Israelite attack. Sisera escaped and sought refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. She gave the terrified Canaanite sanctuary. When he fell asleep, she drove a tent peg into his brain. The act fulfilled the prediction of Debora, prophetess and Israelite leader, who foresaw that a woman would slay Sisera.

This work is typical of Vignali’s compositional style. Its composition is a derivation of a drawing by Cigoli in the Uffizi, Florence.

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Portrait of Alessandro Strozzi, Called Beato Alessio

An inscription on the front of this canvas identifies the sitter as Alessandro di Jacopo Strozzi, later known as Beato Alessio. Born in Florence in 1350 to noble and wealthy parents, Alessandro Strozzi joined the convent of Santa Maria Novella at the age of fourteen and, despite the pleas of his family, chose the Dominican order. A cultured and respected theologian, Strozzi was elected as prior in 1381, yet two years later he was taken ill and died at the age of 31.

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The Archangel Michael

Vignali’s naturalistic style, dramatic use of chiaroscuro and elegance in balancing colour and design is true to the Florentine Baroque tradition.

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View of the Room of the Angels

The Room of the Angels in the Casa Buonarroti was decorated by Jacopo Vignali and Michelangelo Cinganelli in 1623. The frescoes represent the saints and beatified of the city and the Florence area. The altar on the left has valuable intarsia work made to a design by Pietro da Cortona.

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