Paolo Farinati

His earliest documented painting, St. Martin and the Beggar (1552), was commissioned by Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga for Mantua cathedral, which had recently been reconstructed by Giulio Romano (c. 1499-1546). In this, Farinati adopted a Mannerist style and restricted palette absorbed from works by Francesco Torbido (1482/85-1561/62), and by Nicola Giolfino (1476-1555) in whose workshop he probably trained. These qualities are detectable also in the Massacre of the Innocents (1556) for S. Maria in Organo, Verona. A decade later, Farinati executed frescoes on either side of an altarpiece by Veronese (1528-1588) in the Cappella Marogna at S. Paolo, Verona, a proximity which inspired him to employ a more extensive color range. Bright coloration is found in other later works, such as his altarpiece depicting Saints Francis and Nicholas (1588) for the same church, but his style remained otherwise constant. He prepared a significant number of drawings, many of which were used as modelli (Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 102).