Alessandro Turchi, known as l'Orbetto (Verona, 1578 – Rome, 22 January 1649), was an Italian painter. Alessandro Turchi had his pictorial training at the workshop of Felice Brusasorci, in his hometown. Read the full biography
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Alessandro Turchi, known as l'Orbetto (Verona, 1578 – Rome, 22 January 1649), was an Italian painter. Alessandro Turchi had his pictorial training at the workshop of Felice Brusasorci, in his hometown. From the early years of the seventeenth century he gradually began to paint independently until the death of his master in 1605. In this period he created some paintings of a religious nature for various churches in Verona and, probably, some works on touchstones (recent material used as a painting support). Perhaps after 1605 he stayed sporadically in the cities of Venice and Mantua, which were attractive artistic-cultural centers at the time. In Verona he painted many works for the local aristocracy (especially for the Conti Giusti, whose collection numbered a dozen of the artist's works) and in December 1609 he officially entered the Veronese Philharmonic Academy, taking over from the master who had been before he is the official painter of that Academy. Around 1614 he moved to Rome, where he remained permanently until his death. Shortly after his transfer he participated in the decoration of the Sala Regia of the Quirinale palace together with his fellow disciple Marcantonio Bassetti (the involvement of Pasquale Ottino seems to have been excluded), under the guidance of Carlo Saraceni. Noticed by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, he painted for him the Christ wept by the Magdalene and the angels and the Resurrection of Lazarus (still in Rome today, Galleria Borghese). The cardinal also had him work on the decoration of his villa in Mondragone (he commissioned an altarpiece which has not yet been traced) and for the Casino del Barco. Very attached to his hometown, he continued to send paintings of a sacred nature for the chapels of the churches and of mythological subjects for some famous Veronese collections such as the Gherardini, the Curtoni and the Muselli. His most important patron was Marquis Gaspare Gherardini, artistic informant of Christina of Sweden. His last years were full of successes: in 1637 he was appointed prince of the Accademia di San Luca and in 1638 member of the Congregation of the Virtuosi at the Pantheon. In 1623 Alessandro married Lucia San Giuliano, with whom he had numerous children. In 1640, his daughter Cecilia joined the painter Giacinto Gimignani, whose works sometimes show clear references to those of his father-in-law.
