Scarsellino

Scarsellino - Driving of the merchants from the temple

Scarsellino or Ippolito Scarsella (1550 (or 1551) - 28 October 1620) was an Italian Late-Renaissance - Mannerist painter of the School of Ferrara. He was born and died in Ferrara; however, he traveled and worked extensively across Italy, encountering many influences. He was born to an artist father, the less-talented Sigismondo Scarsella. Apparently he lived in Venice for 4 years around 1570, though it is not known if he was affiliated to a particular studio. His early works show the influences of various contemporary styles and painters including the venetian schools and locally Dosso Dossi. One of Scarsellino's pupils was Costanzo Cattani.

A number of his works now are at the Galleria Borghese in Rome, The Bathing Venus, Diana and Endymion and Venus and Adonis. Scarsellino worked alongside the brothers Carracci in the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. However, unlike the Carracci, Scarsellino's paintings have a decorative quality, and lack monumentality. World War II bombing of Dresden destroyed two of his paintings: Flight into Egypt and Holy Family at Work.

Anthology of works

• The Way to Calvary (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
• The Martyrdom of Saint Venanatius of Camerino (Houston)
• Fame Conquering Time (Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford).
• Virgin Adored by Saints (1609; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
• Landscape with Abraham and Isaac (Oxford) (attributed)
• Apollo (MFA, San Francisco)
• Madonna with Saints (c1600; MFA, Houston)
• Adoration of the Magi (c1600, Capitoline Museums, Rome)
• Allegorical Scene (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Ferrara)
• Saint Demetrius (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
• Virgin and Angels Imploring Christ not to Punish Lust, Avarice, and Pride (Pinacoteca, Vatican)
• Judgment of Paris (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)
• "Christ and Saint Peter in the Sea of Gallilee"(Fogg Art Museum,Cambridge,Massachusetts)
• "Nymphs At Bath"(Minneapolis Institute of Art)

References

• Francis P. Smyth and John P. O'Neill (1986). The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the 16th and 17th Centuries. Washington: National Gallery of Art. pp. 196–201. 
• Freedberg, Sydney J. (1993). Pelican History of Art, ed. Painting in Italy, 1500-1600. Penguin Books. pp. 574–577.