'Sinibaldo Scorza' (
16 July 1589 –
5 April 1631) was an
Italian painter, draughtsman and etcher.
He was born into a wealthy aristocratic family from
Voltaggio (now part of
Piedmont), his father being the Conte Scorza di Voltaggio, and he received a literary and humanist education. He first trained with a poorly-known painter,
Giovanni Battista Carosio, and his son Bernardo until he moved in
1604 to Genoa and apprenticed with
Giovanni Battista Paggi. He painted a "Christ comforted by Angels" in the painting gallery of the Cappuccini.
In
1619 the Duke
Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy named Scorza his court painter, and he was granted a monthly pension of 50 ducats per month. However when war erupted between Genoa and Savoy in
1625. Returning to Genoa, and there he was charged with treason. He was exiled to Massa, then to Rome, where he worked for several years before he was granted permission to return to Genoese territory and Voltaggio in 1627. During his last years, Scorza influenced
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. He is one of the painters mentioned in
Raffaello Soprani’s biographies.
Scorza is best known for paintings in which animals are part of the narrative, such as the ''story of Noah'' and others. Part of this attention to nature was derived from his exposure to the person and works of diverse north European artists worked in Genoa:
Frans Snyders and his pupil
Jan Roos I; and
Pieter Boel and
Goffredo Wals.
References
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Artnet biography from Grove encyclopedia of Art
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Getty museum entry
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Delle vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti genovesi, , Raffaello, Soprani, Stamperia Casamara in Genoa, dalle Cinque Lampadi, con licenza de Superiori; Digitized by Googlebooks from Oxford University copy on Feb 2, 2007, 1769,