Emilio Taruffi

Emilio Taruffi (163317 June 1696) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.

Biography He was a fellow-pupil with Carlo Cignani in the studio of Francesco Albani, then a pupil of the former. Active first at Bologna, in decorating the public hall, and next at Rome, where he resided three years, sometimes employed at Sant'Andrea della Valle and in private houses. He also conducted some altar-pieces, and that of San Pier Celestino, at the church of that name, yields to few of the same period. Maria Elena Panzacchi and Teresa Muratori were some of the pupils to go through his tutelage.

Taruffi was also reputed to be both a successful portrait painter and copyist. His Self-portrait (c. 1689; Florence, Uffizi) was acquired by Cosimo III de' Medici for the Guardaroba in 1689. The Medici also collected other paintings by him, although only a St. Cecilia (Florence, Uffizi) has been identified from the many references to him in the late 17th-century Medici inventories. Crespi cited numerous copies Taruffi made after paintings by Dürer, Lorenzo Garbieri, Guido Cagnacci and Guercino (all untraced). The only confirmed surviving copy by Taruffi is the Virgin and Child Appearing to St. Bruno (oil on copper, 1677; Auckland Art Gallery) after Guercino’s picture of the same subject (1647; Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna).

Taruffi died in Bologna on 17 June 1696. He was apparently assassinated.