Giuseppe Vermiglio (c. 1585 – c. 1635) was a Caravaggist painter from northern Italy who also worked in Rome. Little is known of his life; he was probably born in Alessandria. He matters because he carried Caravaggio's manner into Piedmont and Lombardy, where he spent much of his career.
From the early 1600s until about 1620 he lived in Rome, where he trained and worked as a painter. His combative temperament got him into trouble: in 1604 he backed his master Adriano di Monteleone in a quarrel with two unidentified artists, in 1605 he was arrested for carrying an unlicensed sword, and in 1611 proceedings were brought against him for attacking the painter Silvio Oliviero. In 1618 he is recorded as a picture dealer.
Around 1620 he returned to northern Italy, working in Novara and Alessandria as well as in Mantua and Milan. His style rests on Caravaggio, though it is also linked to Annibale Carracci and Guido Reni, and it has been suggested that he studied in Bologna. Among his works are The Incredulity of St Thomas, signed and dated 1612, and two pieces in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan dated 1622, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Last Supper. Luigi Lanzi regarded his Daniel among the Lions, in the library of the Passione in Milan, as his masterwork. Critical opinion has ranged from Alfred Moir's dismissal of him as an inconsequential craftsman to Lanzi's praise of him as the finest oil painter of old Piedmont.
Works (1)
This 1700 oil painting by Giuseppe Vermiglio depicts the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Old Testament episode in which Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son at God's command. It belongs to religious art and is held at the Palazzo Bianco. The available information does not clarify the commission or the circumstances of its creation.
Where to see the work
- Palazzo Bianco Genoa · 1