20 May 2023

Giovanni Paolo Cavagna – artist

Prolific painter left a rich legacy of religious canvases

Frescoes by Cavagna illuminate the dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo
Frescoes by Cavagna illuminate the dome of the
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo
Late Renaissance painter Giovanni Paolo Cavagna, who became famous for his religious scenes, died on this day in 1627 in his native city of Bergamo.

Cavagna was mainly active in Bergamo and Brescia, another historic city in the Lombardy region, for most of his career, although he is believed to have spent some time training in Venice in the studio of Titian.

The artist was born in Borgo di San Leonardo in Bergamo’s Città Bassa in about 1550. The painter Cristoforo Baschenis Il Vecchio is believed to have taken him as an apprentice from the age of 12. Cavagna is also thought to have spent time as a pupil of the famous Bergamo portrait painter Giovanni Battista Moroni.

Cavagna’s work can still be seen in many churches in Bergamo and villages in the surrounding area. In the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo’s Città Alta there are paintings by him of the Assumption of the Virgin, the Nativity, and Esther and Ahasuerus.

The church of Santo Spirito in Bergamo's Città Bassa
The church of Santo Spirito
in Bergamo's Città Bassa
In the Church of Santo Spirito in Bergamo’s Città Bassa, there are his paintings of Santa Lucia and the Crucifixion with Saints. He painted a Coronation of the Virgin for the Church of San Giovanni Battista in the province of Casnigo, which is to the north east of Bergamo, and some of his paintings can also be seen in the sanctuary of the Madonna del Castello in Almenno San Salvatore, a province to the north west of Bergamo.

The artist also completed a painting of the Crucifixion for the Church of Santa Lucia in Venice.

Cavagna’s son, Francesco, who became known as Cavagnuola, and his daughter, Caterina, also became painters.

After his death in 1627, Cavagna was buried in the Church of Santa Maria Immacolata delle Grazie in the Città Bassa in Bergamo, but after the reorganization of the lower town in the 19th century, the church was rebuilt and Cavagna’s tomb had to be moved, and it is now uncertain what happened to it.

Piazza Pontida is in Bergamo's Borgo San Leonardo quarter in the Città Bassa
Piazza Pontida is in Bergamo's Borgo San
Leonardo quarter in the Città Bassa
Travel tip:

Borgo San Leonardo, where Cavagna was born and lived, is a historic part of Bergamo’s Città Bassa where the Church of San Leonardo fronts an attractive square, Piazza Pontida, which links the important thoroughfares of Via Sant’Alessandro and Via XX Settembre. Piazza Pontida is part of an area that was known for centuries as Cinque Vie (five roads), where traffic from Milan, Lecco, Treviglio and Crema would converge and goods arriving in Bergamo would be unloaded. Some of the porticos in the piazza date back to the 15th century, when the farmers and merchants of the time would shelter from the sun under them.

The Via Arena entrance to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
The Via Arena entrance to the
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Travel tip:

Some of Cavagna’s paintings can be seen in one of the most important and beautiful churches in Bergamo, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, which has entrances from both Piazza Duomo and Via Arena in the Città Alta. The basilica was built in the 12th century in the shape of a Greek cross but was modified in the 14th and 16th centuries. It has a large interior with a richly decorated cupola from the 16th century and some fine Flemish and Florentine tapestries and works of art. At the back of the church is an elaborate white marble monument designed by Vincenzo Vela, marking the tomb of opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo and came back to die in the city.





Also on this day:

1470: The birth of poet Pietro Bembo

1537: The birth of anatomist Hieronymous Fabricius

1916: The birth of athlete Ondina Valla

1943: The birth of singer Al Bano

1967: The birth of film director Gabriele Muccino


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