PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS.
CRESPI, GrosEPPE Maeia, called Lo Spagndolo,
a name given to him by his fellow-students on
account of the finerj' of his dress, was a painter
and etcher, bom at Bologna in 1665. He studied
first under A. M. Toni, and then entered the school
of D. M. Canuti, but afterwards passed some time
under C. Cignani, and still later imder G. A. Bur-
rini. He visited Venice, Panna, and Modena,
where he painted after the style of Barocci, Guer-
cino, and Pietro da Cortona. Desirous of discover-
ing and establishing a new mode of working, he
adopted a flimsy method of colouring, without
solidity, and consisting chiefly of glazing, which
has occasioned many of his works to become almost
obliterated. He had a particular talent for cari-
cature : and some of his compositions of that kind
are full of humour and eccentricity. He was for
some time in the employment of the Grand-Duke
Ferdinand, for whom he executed several works in
the Pitti Palace. He died blind at Bologna in
1747. There are many of his pictures in the
churches and palaces of Bologna, besides those
in the under-mentioned galleries :
Bologna. & Siccolo. St. Anthony the Abbot. „ Pinacoteca. Madonna with Saints and Angels. Dresden Gallery. The Virgin and Child, and St John.
Also eleven others. Ferrara. Gesit. Swooning of St. Stanislaus. Florence. Pitti Pal. Holy Family. „ „ Portrait of an Old Man. „ Uffi^. His own Portrait. Munich. Gallery. A weeping Nun. Paris. Louvre. A Schoolmistress. Petersburg. Hermitage. Holy Family. „ „ Death of St. Joseph. „ „ Portrait of Himself. Vienna. GalUry. The Centaur Chiron teaching Achilles to shoot. „ „ Mneas and the Cumsean Sibyl on Charon's Boat.
Giuseppe Maria Crespi has etched several plates, some of which bear the name of L. Mattioli, a friend of his, whom he assisted in his distress. The following are among the number :
The Massacre of the Innocents. Two plates of the Eesorrection ; in the style of Rembrandt. The Miraculous Crucifix of Pistoja. St. Anthony ; in the manner of iiemhrandt. St. Pascal. Five plates of the Trades ; in the style of S. Rosa. A Shepherd and Shepherdess. The Circumcision ; after L. CarracH. The Nurse ; after Van Dyck. Besides Antonio, he had two sons who were also artists: LlIlGl,who held certain offices in the papal court, wrote ' Vite dei Pittori Bolognesi,' 1769, and died in 1779; and Febdinakdo, a Franciscan monk, who painted miniatures, and died in 1754.
CRESPY, Jean and Louis. See Crepy.
CRESTI, DoMENico, called II Passignano, was bom at Passignano, near Florence, in 1558. He was first a scholar of Macchietti and of Battista Naldini, but afterwards studied under Federigo Znccaro, to whose style his own is more conform- able. He resided some time at Venice, where he received instruction from Paolo Veronese, and became so fascinated with the works of the great masters of the Venetian school, that, according to Boschini, he used to observe, that whoever had not seen Venice could not hope to become a painter. Though neither select in his forms nor correct in his design, he is ingenious and abundant in his compositions ; and in the splen- dour of his costumes and the richness of his architecture he resembles Paolo Veronese more than does any other of the Florentine painters. He sometimes reminds us of Tintoretto, in the strained attitudes of his figures, and, like that master, he painted many of his pictures with colours so thin and oily, that several of his works have perished. Such has been the fate of his pictures of the ' Crucifixion of St. Peter,' and the ' Presentation in the Temple,' painted for the Basilica of St. Peter, in the pontificates of Paul V. and Urban VIII. There are, however, some of his pictures remaining, which are painted with an excellent impasto of colour. Of these may be mentioned a 'Dead Christ,' in the Cappella di Mondragone, at Frascati ; a ' Descent from the Cross,' in the Palazzo Borghese, at Rome; and ' Christ bearing the Cross,' in the Uffizi, at Florence. His extraordinary facility and rapidity of execution won for him the nickname ' Passa ognuno,' a play upon his surname of ' Passignano. He died in 1638. The following are also among his paintings :
Florence. ( f , The Descent of the Holy Ghost ( 3lagylore. ) „ Academy. The Assumption. „ Uffizi. His own Portrait. „ „ Chri.st bearing the Cross. Paris. Louvre. A Miracle of the true Cross. B<"°«- { ilfa'taUe. } '^^ Assumption. Vienna. Gallery. Feast of Ahasuerus.
CRESWICK, Thomas, a landscape painter, was bom at Sheffield in 1811. He was sent when very young to Birmingham, where he became a pupil of J. V. Barber. He went to London in 1828, and immediately commenced to exhibit at the British Institution, and at the Royal Academ}', to both of which he was henceforward a constant contributor. His early works, which were chiefly Welsh scenes, had a great success, and in 1840 he began to exhibit views in the North of England. In 1842 he was awarded a premium of fifty guineas by the directors of the British Institution for his general excellence, and in the same year he %yas elected an Associate of the Royal Academy: nine years later he became an Academician. The quiet beauties of inland scenery, and more especially scenes with rippling streams, quiet riverside nooks, and glens and dells, were his favourite subjects, although occasionally he painted coast scenes. His power in the delineation of aerial perspective and his knowledge of the effects of colour were almost equal to Turner. Some of Creswick's later pictures were painted in conjunction with Goodall, Elmore, John Phillip, Frith, and Ansdell, who introduced the figures and cattle. He was an active member of the Etching Club, and furnished many charming etchings for its publications ; notably the editions of Gray's 'Elegy,' Milton's ' L'Allegro,' and Goldsmith's ' Deserted Village.' He also occasionally drew on wood blocks. He died in London in 1869, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.
The following are some of his principal works :
1S39. The Pathway to the Village Church (in the National Gallery). 1S42. Afternoon. 1843. Welsh Glen. Is44. A Scene on the Tummel, Perthshire (in the South Kensington Museum). 1844. A Summer's Afternoon (in the South Kensington Museum). 1845. A Recollection of the Alps. 1845. Rain on the Hills. 1846. The pleasant way heme.
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