Jacopo da Empoli

Jacopo da Empoli (30 April 1551 – 30 September 1640) was an Italian Florentine Reformist painter.

Born in Florence as Jacopo Chimenti (Empoli being the birthplace of his father), he worked mostly in his native city. He apprenticed under Maso da San Friano. Like his contemporary in Counter-Maniera (Counter-Mannerism), Santi di Tito, he moved into a style often more crisp, less contorted, and less crowded than mannerist predecessors like Vasari. He collaborated with Alessandro Tiarini in some projects. His brother, Domenico Chimenti (1554-1640) born in Empoli, was also a painter. Among his pupils were Felice Ficherelli, Giovanni Battista Brazzè (Il Bigio),Giovanni Battista Vanni, and Virgilio Zaballi.

Finally, working in a thematic often shunned by Florentine painters, after the 1620s he completed a series of exceptional still-life paintings .

Selected works

Empoli

Empoli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈempoli]) is a town and comune in Tuscany, Italy, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by this river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The commune's territory becomes a hilly one as it departs from the river. Empoli is on the main railway line from Florence to Pisa, and is the point of divergence of a line to Siena. Empoli has an enduring tradition as an agricultural centre. It has given its name to a local variety of artichoke.

History

Archaeological finds have revealed that Empoli was already settled in the early Roman Empire times, and continued to exist until the 4th century AD. The river acted as a communication way for the trade of agricultural products, together with the local amphorae. In the Tabula Peutingeriana of the 4th century Empoli is called in portu ("in the port") as a river port on the Roman road Via Quinctia, which led from Fiesole and Florence to Pisa. Empoli was also on the Via Salaiola, connecting to Volterra's salt ponds.