Domenico Feti

Domenico Feti , c.1589-1624, Italian painter. Court painter to the Gonzaga family in Mantua, Feti was influenced by the chiaroscuro technique of Caravaggio . His later works, such as Melancholia (Louvre), belong, in their use of color, to the Venetian tradition.

Feti, Domenico (or Domenico Fetti) (b ?Rome, c.1589; d Venice, 16 Apr. 1623). Italian painter. He studied in Rome under Ludovico Cigoli, was court painter to Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua from 1613 to 1622, and then moved to Venice. His most characteristic works are of religious themes turned into scenes of everyday contemporary life. Though small in scale, they are broadly painted, with characteristic ‘windswept’ brushstrokes. Their great popularity is shown by the fact that they often exist in numerous very similar versions (The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, c.1622, versions in Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, NG, Dublin, and elsewhere). Feti, who was also an excellent portraitist, was one of a group of non-Venetian artists (including the German Liss and the Genoan Strozzi) who revivified painting in the city when there was a scarcity of native talent. Consequently, he is often classed as a member of the Venetian School, even though he spent only a few months there (from September 1622 until his death in April 1623).

Feti (or Fetti, Domenico) (c.1589–1623). Italian painter. He was born in Rome, where he studied under Cigoli, was court painter to Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua from 1613 to 1622, and then moved to Venice. His most characteristic works are of religious themes turned into genre scenes of contemporary life. Though small in scale, they are broadly painted, with characteristic ‘windswept’ brushstrokes. Their great popularity is shown by the fact that they often exist in numerous very similar versions. Feti, who was also an excellent portraitist, was one of a group of non-Venetian artists (including the German Liss and the Genoan Strozzi) who revivified painting in the city when there was a scarcity of native talent. Consequently, he is often classed as a member of the Venetian School, even though he spent only a few months there (from September 1622 until his death in April 1623).