Giuseppe Badaracco

Who was Giuseppe Badaracco?

Giuseppe Badaracco, also called “Il Sordo”, was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Genoa, in Liguria and in the island of Corsica.

Born in Genoa into well-to-do family, he first studied classic literature, but moved into an apprenticeship with the painter Bernardo Strozzi, then Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo. He worked for some years in Florence, where he copied many of the works of Andrea del Sarto. Returning to Genoa, he painted mainly for private customers. He worked also in Corsica, where he painted locally influential paintings for some churches around Bastia. He died on 1657 from the plague that swept through Genoa. He fathered four sons; among them Giovanni Raffaele, who was also his pupil, became a notable painter.