Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi

Who was Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi?

Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi was an Italian architect and painter, named Il Bolognese from the place of his birth. Grimaldi was a relative of the Carracci family, under whom it is presumed he first apprenticed.

He was afterwards a pupil of Cardinal Francesco Albani. He went to Rome, and was appointed architect to Pope Paul V and also patronized by succeeding popes. Towards 1648 he was invited to France by Cardinal Mazarin, and for about two years was employed in buildings for that minister and for Louis XIV, and in fresco-painting in the Louvre.

His colour was strong, somewhat excessive in the use of green; his touch light. He painted history, portraits and landscapes—the, last with predilection, especially in his advanced years—and executed engravings and etchings from his own landscapes and from those of Titian and the Caracci. Returning to Rome, he was made principe of the Accademia di San Luca; and in that city he died, in high repute not only for his artistic skill but for his upright and charitable deeds.

His son Alessandro assisted him both in painting and in engraving.