Andrea Vicentino

also called Andrea Michieli, circa 1542 Vicenza – 1617 Venice

The painter Andrea Michieli, also known as Andrea Vicentino, received his initial artistic training from Alessandro Maganza, a master who worked in his home town. About 1575 Vicentino moved to Venice, where his name appeared for the first time in 1583 in the Fraglia, the register of the Venetian painters’ guild. In the Serenissima Vicentino perfected his graphic skills by making drawn copies of the most important works in the Palazzo Ducale, which he collected in an album. Some of these copies have survived in private collections. Vicentino preferred to draw in red chalk, following the example of Federico Zuccaro, who had made systematic use of this medium to draw copies of paintings. In the 1580s Vicentino took part, together with fellow-artists such as Jacopo Palma il Giovane and Vincenzo Corona, in the execution of such major projects as the ceiling paintings for the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in the Palazzo Ducale, where he worked as an assistant to Tintoretto. Vicentino developed a dynamic and accurate drawing style with an assured sense of form and remarkable expressiveness. Despite certain eclectic stylistic features taken from the art of the Venetian Late Renaissance, his work is imbued with individuality and a strong feeling for picturesque effect. His Vicenza origins bestowed upon him a certain artistic independence, enabling him to draw freely upon the wealth of forms offered by Venetian painting of the Cinquecento.