Francesco Rizi

Spanish, 1608 - 1685

BiographyBorn 1608 or 1614, in Madrid, to Italian parents; died 2 August 1685, in El Escorial, Spain.
Painter, fresco artist, decorative designer. Religious subjects, portraits.

The son of Antonio Rizi and younger brother of Fray (Brother) Juan Andres Rizi, Francesco Rizi was a pupil of Vincente Carducho in Madrid and a collaborator of Juan Carreno. He worked in the service of the king from 1639 but was not appointed Pintor del Rey (king's painter) until 1656.

Rizi is chiefly known for the frescoes he painted in the vaults of Toledo Cathedral, including that of Archbishop Jimenez de Rada Blessing Toledo Cathedral. He also painted frescoes in the Salon de l'Alcazar in Madrid; 20 paintings for the cathedral of S Isidore in Madrid; a Virgin with St Philip and St Francis of 1650 in the church of the Capuchinos del Pardo (Madrid) and the Freeing of St Leocadia in the church of S Jeronimo in Madrid. The Auto da Fè held in 1683 on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid was recorded in paint by Rizi.

"RIZI, Francisco." In Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/benezit/B00153561 (accessed April 16, 2012).

Person TypeIndividual