Name Cherubino Cornienti | Died 1860, Milan, Italy | |
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Cherubino Cornienti (March 25, 1816 – May 12, 1860) was an Italian painter, active in a Romantic style mainly in Northern Italy.
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Biography
Son of an artisan Luigi and his wife Paola Marazzi, he was born in Pavia. He followed his brother Giuseppe, an engraver and lithographer at Milan. When he was early 12 years of age, he was admitted to the Brera Academy. In 1835, he participated in the annual exhibition at the Academy, and the next year, along with Domenico Induno, he won a prestigious award. He began a studio, alongside Induno, Giuseppe Mongeri, and Mauro Conconi.
In 1838 he painted the portrait of the patron Felice Borroni of Solcio di Lesa. In 1839, he painted the Bishop of Lodi, Count Gaetano Benaglia. In 1842, he painted the Paolo Erizzo bids Farewell to his Daughters. In 1843, the Brera Academy awarded him a three-year stipend to paint in Rome. There he gravitated to the colony of Italian and foreign artists allied to the Accademia di San Luca, including Karl Bryullov. He attended courses in the French Academy in Villa Medici. In 1850, he was commissioned a fresco on Christ at Emmaus for the Convent of the Cappuccini of Tivoli. In 1853, his painting of Child Moses steps on the Crown of the Pharoah was sent for exhibition in Milan but the judges including Francesco Hayez, severely criticized the work.
He works in Garlate and Crema. In 1854, his work was interrupted by the demise of his model and companion Lalla, who had accompanied him from Rome to Milan. He visited Venice and Trieste. Back in Milan, he paints the portrait of Renato Borromeo. In 1856 two altarpieces for the church in Malgrate. In 1857, he proposed painting frescoes for the Duomo of Vigevano, but the commission is assigned to Francesco Gonin.
Back in Rome, he continued to paint historical subjects, including events in the life of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Ludovico il Moro, and Galeazzo Sforza. Finally in 1860, the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna nominated him Professor of Painting with a stipend of 3500 Lire. But within a few months, Cherubino died in Milan at 44 years of age. He was buried alongside his friend Mauro Conconi, who died two days later.