BAGLIONE, Cesare

Italian painter of vaultGLOSSARYA roof or ceiling whose structure is based on the arch. There are a wide range of forms, including the barrel (or tunnel) vault, formed by a continuous semi-circular arch; the groin vault, formed when two barrel vaults intersect; and the rib vault, consistong of a framework of diagonal ribs supporting interlocking arches. The development of the various forms was of great structural and aesthetic importance in the development of church architecture during the Middle Ages. decorations, representing one of the best examples of Mannerist fantasy. He worked from 1565 to 1574 in Florence and later at the court of Duke Ottavio Farnese. The execution of grotesques, designed by Raphael and his workshop, was left to specialists in the sixteenth century. We know only a few of their names, including Cesare Baglione, Giovanni da Udine, and Giovanni Antonio Paganino; many others remain anonymous. Baglione's grotesques and images inspired by the bible decorate the Charterhouse of Paradigna, also known as Valserena, as well as the Marazzani Palace in Piacenza.

From 1604 he worked at the ceiling decorations of the Ducal Palace in Parma, but the grotesque decorations in the Castle of Soragna and in the Castle of Torrechiara are his real masterpieceGLOSSARYA term now loosely applied to the finest work by a particular artist or to any work of art of acknowledged greatness or of preeminence in its field. Originally it meant the piece of work by which a craftsman, having finished his training, gained the rank of'master' in his guild.. Worth of notice are also his last works, the frescoes decorating the Church of San Sepolcro in Parma.