Simone Cantarini

Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called il Pesarese (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian painter and etcher. He is known mainly for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original style, which united aspects of Bolognese classicism with a bold naturalism.

As an etcher, Cantarini is noted for his luminous and delicate effects.

Life Cantarini was born in Pesaro, now a town in the Italian region of the Marche, then part of the Papal States and ruled by the Della Rovere. He was baptized on 21 August 1612. His father Girolamo was a prominent merchant and the family was well-off.

There is no documentary information on Cantarini's early training. Initially he may have been a pupil of Giovanni Giacomo Pandolfi. A religious person from a church in Pesaro who supported Cantarini's artistic career accompanied the young artist on a trip to Venice. In Venice he benefitted from the guidance of the Venetian late-Mannerist painter Sante Peranda and learned drawing skills from Francesco Mingucci, a fellow citizen of Pesaro residing in Venice.

As he was not tutored by a single master in his early years, Simone Cantarini was mostly self-taught and he absorbed the styles of other painters by making copies or sketches after their works. The prints by the Carracci together with the work of Federico Barocci were important influences on the young artist. He further drew inspiration from the caravaggesque art of Orazio Gentileschi, who worked in the Marche region during the 1610s, and of Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri from nearby Fossombrone. Here he proved to be a student who had problems connecting with the other students and failed to attend classes such as the nude class, which brought him in conflict with the teacher of that class. During his stay in Reni' s studio Cantarini learned to etch and became very skilled in that technique. Giovanni Venanzi was also very likely his pupil.

Cantarini is known to have followed a set procedure in the design and creation of his prints: he would start with a general sketch of the composition in pen or pencil. After having thus studied the details of the composition one by one, he traced the design in red stone, with the details defined. The design was then replicated in pen in its final dimensions using a grid and then transferred on a copper plate and etched.