Alessandro Tiarini Biography
Alessandro Tiarini (Bologna, 20 March 1577 – Bologna, 8 February 1668) was an Italian painter. Between 1613 and 1614 he painted for the church of San Giovanni Battista in Crevalcore Christ placing the crown of thorns on the head of Saint Catherine of Siena (oil on canvas, 245 x 149 cm). The frescoes in the church of San Michele in Bosco date back to 1614. Between 1614 and 1618 he created for the church of San Domenico the painting with San Domenico resurrecting a child, with numerous figures of enormous dimensions, dramatic setting and lighting. During the following years he intensified this trend by inserting his figures in dark compositions of impressive gravity, as in the Deposition of Christ in the Sepulchre, a work created for the church of Sant'Antonio del Collegio Montalto and now at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna and in San Martino who resurrects the widow's son in the church of Santo Stefano. In contact with the pictorial environments of Parma, Venice and Ferrara and above all with the rereading of Correggio's work, he lightens the palette while the figures acquire monumentality and greater naturalness; examples are the Mystical Wedding of Saint Catherine in the Estense Gallery in Modena, the frescoes in Palazzo del Giardino and in Sant'Alessandro in Parma and Rinaldo and Armida in the Musée des beaux-arts in Lille. Subsequently he was active in Reggio Emilia, executing frescoes in the Basilica della Ghiara dei Servi di Maria, as well as paintings for various churches. The altarpiece with The SS. is worthy of note. Trinity supplicated by the Virgin, initially placed in the oratory of the Trinity, then, following the destruction of the Oratory, placed in the church of San Pietro. The altarpiece is characterized by an original compositional idea: next to the Father (richly dressed) in conversation with the Son (semi-naked, with the signs of the Passion), over which the dove of the Spirit hovers, there is the figure of the Virgin Mary, lightly touched by hand of the Son, perhaps signifying the recognition of motherhood. The work dates back to 1633. Tiarini also worked for churches in Modena and Pavia in this period. According to Carlo Cesare Malvasia, he retired, handing over his brushes to Andrea Sirani, unable to keep up with Guido Reni, who had then returned to Bologna from Rome.
