born Nov. 4, 1575, Bologna, Papal States
died Aug. 18, 1642, Bologna
Italian painter.
Apprenticed to the Flemish painter Denis Calvaert at 10, he was later influenced by the novel naturalism of the Carracci family of his native Bologna, the frescoes of Raphael , and ancient Greco-Roman sculpture. He executed many important commissions in Rome, including the celebrated ceiling fresco Aurora (1613–14). In his religious and mythological works, he tempered Baroque exuberance and complexity with Classical restraint, tender emotion, and delicate colouring. Until John Ruskin scorned him in the 19th century, he was highly regarded; his status as one of the great painters of the 17th century has since been reestablished.