Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Federico Zuccari
Federico Zuccari was an Italian late Mannerist painter and theorist known for monumental cathedral frescoes, religious oil paintings, and illustrated studies of Dante.
Federico Zuccari quick facts
Zuccari continued the fresco work on Florence Cathedral's dome after Giorgio Vasari. His Dante Historiato illustrations are drawings, mainly in red and black chalk and ink, not painted canvases.
| Born | 1540 or 1541 · Sant'Angelo in Vado, Duchy of Urbino (now Italy) |
|---|---|
| Died | 1609 · Ancona, Papal States (now Italy) |
| Nationality | Italian (from the Marche) |
| Movements | Late Italian Mannerism |
| Paint types | Oil Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Plaster |
| Painting methods | Oil on canvas, fresco on architectural plaster, and separate chalk-and-ink drawings |
| Common subjects | Saints, religious visions, cathedral frescos, allegories, portraits, and Dante's Divine Comedy |
| Notable works | Florence Cathedral dome frescoes · Self-Portrait · Immaculate Madonna with Saints Terentius and Francis · Dante Historiato (drawings) |
Sources: Uffizi: Zuccari and the cathedral dome, Italian heritage catalog: Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, Italian heritage catalog: Immaculate Madonna, oil on canvas, Uffizi: Dante drawings.
Paint types used
Italian heritage records identify Zuccari's Self-Portrait and Immaculate Madonna with Saints as oil on canvas. Fresco is pigment applied to plaster, not an oil painting. His Uffizi Dante illustrations use drawing media, not oil paint.
Surface types used
The cited oil paintings use canvas, while cathedral dome frescoes use architectural plaster. Paper used for Dante drawings is not counted as a painting surface for these works.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Plaster
Plaster is a porous mineral wall and ceiling finish that may be based on gypsum, lime, or other binders. Fresh plaster contains significant moisture and can be highly absorbent until fully dry and appropriately sealed.
Painters similar to Federico Zuccari
Zuccari followed Vasari at Florence Cathedral, while Giulio Romano offers a related example of collaborative Mannerist fresco decoration.
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was a Florentine Mannerist painter, architect, and art historian known for elaborate Medici court decorations, religious paintings, and his influential Lives of the Artists.
Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano was a Roman Mannerist painter and architect whose monumental illusionistic frescoes and inventive mythological scenes transformed the palaces of Mantua.