Giovanni Antonio Fasolo

1530 – 1572

Italian painter. Of Lombard origin, he was initially a pupil of Paolo Veronese and subsequently had a short but successful career as a fresco and portrait painter in and around Vicenza. In 1551-52 he collaborated with Gian Battista Zelotti and Veronese on frescoes for the Castello Porto-Colleoni, Thiene. Scenes such as the Meeting of Sophonisba and Massinissa are executed in the style of Veronese, but with a noticeably harder and drier edge and lacking Veronese's rich luminosity and effortless control of space. In 1555-56 Fasolo was employed as a minor assistant to Veronese at San Sebastiano, Venice, but emerged in his own right towards the end of the decade (1557-61), when he began producing stage designs for the Accademia Olimpica, Vicenza. In the 1560s he executed frescoes at several country villas: at the Villa Roberto (Brugine, nr Padua; c. 1564-65), the Villa Campiglia (Albettone, nr Vicenza; c. 1565-67) and the Villa Caldogno (Caldogno, nr Vicenza; c. 1568-70). These last (e.g. the Stolen Embrace) are characterized by their contemporary air and informality, reproducing on a large scale the naturalistic tendencies - a possible Lombard inheritance - that underpin his style and become increasingly apparent in his portraiture.

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