Minzocchi, Francesco

Minzocchi, Francesco a renowned painter of the Bolognese school, sometimes called Il vecchio di Snan Bernardo, was born in Florence in 1513. In his youth he studied the works of Ialmigiani in his native city, and from him he acquired a weak style, as evinced in his picture of the Crucifixion at the Padri Osservanti. Afterwards he changed his manner, assuming a more correct and beautiful style; and his subsequent productions are marked by a beauty and grace rivalling nature herself. Among his most careful works may be mentioned two lateral pictures at the cathedral of Loretto, in a chapel of S. Francisco di Paola. They represent the Sacrifice of Melchizedek and the Miracle of the Manna, in which the prophets and principal characters are given with great dignity and nobleness. Scanneli extols a specimen of his works in fresco on the ceiling of S. Maria della Grata in Forli, representing the Deity surrounded by a number of angels: figures full of spirit, majestic, varied, and painted with a power and skill in foreshortening which entitles him to greater celebrity than he enjoys. He left, also, a number of productions in the cathedral at S. Domenico. He was so much admired that upon the demolition of the chapels his least celebrated frescos were carefully cut out and preserved. He died in 1574. See Lanzi's History of Painting, trans. by Roscoe (London, 1847, 3 volumes, 8vo), 3:56.