Luca Longhi Italian, 1507-1580

Born in Ravenna in 1507, little is known for certain about Luca Longhi’s artistic training at the workshop of two artists from Ravenna, Francesco and Bernardino Zaganelli; his children Francesco and Barbara also trained here. 

He was commissioned to paint portraits of many famous and influential people of his time as well as numerous altarpieces. 

He evolved from the sentimental classicism of his youthful works to fifteenth-century references, depicting scenes of devotion in the open architecture of arches or natural caves embellished with grotesques, reminiscent of Palmezzano. The most distinctive element of his work was his desire to represent the iconography of the saints with clarity and precision. 

His meeting with Vasari in 1548 was pivotal, leading the artist to a new compositional complexity. 

However, Longhi did not adhere to Vasari's elegantly ornate language, veering instead towards refined schemes with sober colours, in line with the talent of a painter more focused on the expressions of the intimate and sentimental characters typical of his portraiture. 

Luca Longhi died in his hometown in 1580.