Cristoforo Munari

1667 – 1720

Cristoforo Munari (also known as Cristofano Monari), Italian painter, specialist in still-life painting. His initial training was in his native Reggio Emilia, where he worked until 1703 under the patronage of Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena. In 1703-1706, he lived in Rome, where he married. He then moved to Florence, where for about a decade he was attached to the court of Ferdinand de' Medici. He also worked for Cosimo III and Cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici (1667-1710), for whom he painted, among many other similar works, the Still-Life with Musical Instruments. His still-life paintings recall those of Evaristo Baschenis. He painted also panoplies and war trophies. In 1715 he moved to Pisa where he worked almost exclusively in art restoration. He died in Pisa in 1720 and he was buried in the Camposanto. Munari's style is characterized by a realistic treatment of detail and a subtle play of reflections and transparencies, suggestive of the manner of such Dutch artists as Jan de Heem. An exhibition of his paintings took place in 1998 in Reggio Emilia, where it attracted wide attention and was a national success.

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