Crescenzio Onofri (Rome after 1632 - Florence after 1712)

The landscape artist Crescenzio Onofri was born in Rome sometime after 1632. His art, both on canvas and frescoes, followed the classical model of Gaspard Dughet but without ever achieving the same power and quality.
In 1675 he was listed among the members of the Accademia di San Luca, the leading artistic institution in Rome. He worked for about twenty years in Rome, taking part in the decoration of the residences of several noble families, include Pamphilj, Pallavicini, Rospigliosi and Colonna. In Palazzo Colonna he collaborated with Dughet on the frescoed decoration of the Throne Room using gouache on gesso. His frescoes in several rooms of Palazzo Theodoli at San Vito Romano, outside Rome, were particularly successful and were reproduced in engravings in 1696. In the same year he moved to Florence, where he worked until his death at the court of the Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici. In this period he collaborated with various artists who painted figures for his landscapes, among them Livio Mehus and Francesco Petrucci. The last documented reference to him relates to the delivery of two paintings in 1712. He is believed to have died shortly after.