Giulio Romano Biography
Giulio Pippi de' Jannuzzi, known as Giulio Romano (circa 1499 – 1546), was an Italian architect and painter of great importance during the Renaissance and Mannerism.
Being a court artist, Giulio took care of every aspect of the residence and representative life of his lord, creating graphic models for tapestries, sculptural works and silver objects, coordinating collaborators and artisans. He was a complete, versatile and much sought-after artist.
After Raphael's death in 1520, Giulio inherited the workshop and the commissions already started, completing the work in progress and working alongside Gian Francesco Penni for the construction of the Hall of Constantine in the Vatican. Thanks to these works, he qualified himself as the most brilliant heir of the Raphaelesque style.
In 1524, thanks to the intervention of Baldassarre Castiglione, the Gonzaga ambassador to Rome, Giulio moved to the court of Mantua, where he obtained a monopoly on architectural and decorative projects, receiving the nickname "Giulio Romano". The Palazzo del Te, begun in 1525, is the first example of mannerist art, in which the corrosive criticism of classicism is expressed in ironic forms (as in the frescoes of the Hall of Psyche and the Hall of the Giants), in search of new expressive freedoms .
