Alessandro Tiarini (Bologna, Italy, 1577 – Bologna, Italy, 1668) 

 
Born in Bologna in 1577, Tiarini began his artistic training in the workshops of Prospero Fontana and Bartolomeo Cesi.  

Between 1598 and 1599, he moved to Florence to deepen his studies attending the Accademia del Disegno until 1606. 

While in Florence, he maintained professional connections with significant patrons in Bologna. Around 1612, he returned to the city, where he married Caterina Musi Bargellini, with whom he had ten children. 

 
In the following years, his expertise in conveying the literary meaning of the Bible and engaging the observer earned himnumerous commissions to decorate churches in Bologna.  

In 1620 and 1624, Tiarini served as sharecropper of the Compagnia dei pittori in Bologna and held the Accademia del nudo.  

In the following years, accompanied by his pupil Luca Ferrari, he travelled between Modena and Parma where he frescoed the Erminia's Hall in the Palazzo del Giardino.  

In 1633, the artist painted the “Marriage of St. Catherine in the presence of St. Anne” for Barbara Arlotti's chapel in the church of St. Prospero in Reggio Emilia. 

From 1646, the painter worked at Ettore Ghisiglieri's Accademia del nudo, where Guercino and Albaniwere active as teachers. 

Alessandro Tiarini died in Bologna in 1668.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)