Natali, Giuseppe

Natali, Giuseppe an eminent painter of sacred and secular art. was born at Casal Maggiore, in the Cremonese territory, in 1652. According to Zaist, possessing a natural genius for the art, he went to Rome, notwithstanding the opposition of his father; and from thence to Bologna. where he assiduously studied the works of Dentone, Colonna, and Mitelli, the most famous perspective and architectural painters of the age. He flourished precisely at the period which the architectural painters consider the happiest for their art. Lanzi says, "he formed a style at once praiseworthy for the grandeur and beauty of the architecture, and the elegance of the ornamental parts judiciously introduced. He gratifies the eye by presenting those views which are the most charming, and gives it repose by distributing them at just distances. In his grotesques he retains much of the antique, shunning all useless exhibitions of modern foliages, and varying the painting from time to time with small landscapes. The softness and harmony of his tints elicited great commendation." Natalis found abundant employment, and decorated many churches and public edifices. He also executed a great many oil paintings, which were in the highest repute. He died in 1722.