Ercole dell'Abate

Who was Ercole dell'Abate?

Ercole dell'Abate or dell'Abbate, the eldest son of Giulio Camillo dell' Abbate, and grandson of Niccolo, was born at Modena about the year 1563. He possessed an extraordinary genius for the arts, which he disgraced by the depravity and intemperance of his conduct. Like most artists of that character, his works were the productions of negligence and haste. He painted, in concurrence with Bartolommeo Schedone, some pictures representing scenes in the Life of Hercules, in the Council-hall at Modena. He died at Modena in 1618. The Modena Gallery has three works by this artist— an 'Annunciation,' a 'Presentation in the Temple,' and a 'Birth of St. John the Baptist.' A 'Marriage of the Virgin,' in the same gallery, is by some attributed to Ercole dell' Abbate, and by others to his son, Pietro Paolo, the younger.