Giovanni da Udine (Udine, 1487 - Rome, 1561). Also known as Giovanni Nani or Giovanni de' Ricamatori, painter, decorator and architect active in the Roman artistic panorama of the sixteenth century. Read the full biography
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Giovanni da Udine (Udine, 1487 - Rome, 1561). Also known as Giovanni Nani or Giovanni de' Ricamatori, painter, decorator and architect active in the Roman artistic panorama of the sixteenth century. After initial training with the painter Giovani Martino da Udine, he settled in Venice, with Giorgione, as Vasari tells us in The Lives, regarding his biography. In 1541 he worked in Raphael's workshop and immediately became one of his best students. He specializes in the grotesque technique, a stucco decoration that was popular in the sixteenth century and which took inspiration from ancient Roman decorations. Vasari recalls his particular talent in painting the elements of nature, from animals to plants, as in the loggia of Villa Farnesina, in which he represents wonderful plant festoons composed of around two hundred different botanical species. Upon Raphael's death, he worked to fresco Villa Madama together with Giulio Romano, with whom he clashed, and Palazzo Baldassini. After the Sack of Rome, he returned to Udine and worked for his city, bringing the innovations learned during his Roman stay throughout Friuli. He is buried in Rome in the Pantheon, next to Raphael.
