Crespi, Giovanni Battista

Crespi, Giovanni Battista (called il Cerano), an Italian painter, was born at Cerano, near Novara, in 1557. He visited Rome and Venice, and subsequently settled at Milan, where he was patronized by the dukecardinal Federigo. One of his best productions was The Baptism of St. Agostino, in San Marco, at Milan. He died in 1633. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.; Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.