Bartolomeo Passarotti
Bartolomeo Passarotti or Passerotti (1529–1592) was an Italian painter of the mannerist period, who worked mainly in his native Bologna. His family name is also spelt Passerotti or Passarotto.
Also recorded as Bartolomeo Passarotto il Vecchio · Bartolommeo Passarotto · Bartolommeo Passaroto · Bartolommeo Passarotti
Bartolomeo Passarotti

Circle of Bartolomeo Passarotti · Public domain
- Name
- Bartolomeo Passarotti
- Born
- 1529
- Birthplace
- Bologna
- Died
- 1592
- Known for
- Painting
- Movement
- Mannerism
- Nationality
- Papal States.
- Occupation
- painter, printmaker, draftsperson and teacher.
- Fields
- painting.
- Movements
- Mannerism.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Bartolomeo Passarotti or Passerotti (1529–1592) was an Italian painter of the mannerist period, who worked mainly in his native Bologna. His family name is also spelt Passerotti or Passarotto.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q809512 · wikipedia · Bartolomeo Passarotti
In this article
Biography
Biography
Agostino Carracci is recorded as having studied under Bartolomeo Passarotti. The field of work recorded is painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait and religious. Places of work recorded in the authority are Rome, Bologna and Florence. Work by Bartolomeo Passarotti is recorded in the collections of Museo del Prado, Art Institute of Chicago, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum and National Gallery of Victoria.

painting "Papst Gregor XIII.", Friedenstein Castle, Gotha
Lutz Ebhardt · Friedenstein Foundation Gotha

Portret van dokter Carlo Fontana - Bartolomeo Passarotti - Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent
Bartolomeo Passarotti
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Bartolomeo Passarotti • Born — 1529 • Birthplace — Bologna • Died — 1592 • Known for — Painting • Movement — Mannerism
Life and work
Life and work
From approximately 1550 to 1555, he lived in Rome, where he worked under Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Taddeo Zuccari. Upon returning to Bologna, he established a large studio and, from 1564 to 1565, was engaged in painting a large altarpiece for the Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore. In his later work, he turned to Tuscan models, such as Giorgio Vasari and Prospero Fontana. His last known work was The Presentation of Mary in the Temple, from 1583, now at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. He influenced many Bolognese who would later play a role in the rise of the Baroque. Annibale Carracci (whose brother Agostino studied with Passerotti) was influenced by Passerotti's genre scenes in a select set of paintings (such as The Beaneater and The Butcher's Shop, the latter being originally attributed to Passerotti). Lucio Massari and Francesco Brizzi were among his pupils. Three of Passerotti's sons, including Ventura (1566–1618), Aurelio (1560–1609) and Tiburzio, were painters.
Selected works
Selected works
• Illustration — The Fish Stall • Illustration — Anatomy Lesson • Illustration — The Madonna of Silence • Illustration — Three Men and Two Dogs, 1529
Homer's Riddle
Homer's Riddle
Homer's Riddle has a well-documented early history followed by centuries of obscurity. The painting was described in detail by Raffaello Borghini in 1584, who saw it in the collection of the Florentine scholar Giovanni Battista Deti. By 1677, it was recorded in the family palace of Senator Carlo Torrigiani, though the observer, Giovanni Cinelli Calvoli, misidentified the subject as Orpheus. After this 17th-century sighting, all traces of the painting were lost, and it was marked as such in modern art historical studies. The recent recovery was not a discovery at a public auction, but the result of dedicated scholarly research. The Uffizi Gallery successfully tracked down the painting to the descendants of the Torrigiani family, in whose possession it had remained, unrecognized, for centuries. The work was then acquired by the museum and, following its re-identification, is slated for display. The story told in the painting is that of Homer inquiring of fishermen arriving on shore whether they had brought in a good catch, and the fishermen, "who had caught nothing and were busy delousing themselves", replied with a riddle: "What we caught, we threw away, what we didn't catch, we kept" (ὅσσ’ ἕλομεν λιπόμεσθ’, / ὅσσ’ ούχ ἔλομεν φερόμεσθα), in reference to the lice.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1529
Bartolomeo Passarotti born at Bologna.
1592
Bartolomeo Passarotti died at Bologna.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q809512: Bartolomeo Passarotti
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Bartolomeo Passarotti”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- A lute player peasant with nodular goiter by Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529–1592), Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2019
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2019
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Severin Josef Hansbauer, Das oberitelienische Familienporträt in der Kunst der Renaissance, S. 260.
- 2.Severin Josef Hansbauer, Das oberitelienische Familienporträt in der Kunst der Renaissance, S. 241.
- 3.Vgl. etwa Gustav Steiner: Aerzte und Wundaerzte, Chirurgenzunft und medizinische Fakultät in Basel. In: Basler Jahrbuch. 1954, S. 179–209, hier: S. 193.
- 4.Corinna Höper. Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529-1592). 1987.
- 5.Jürgen Müller. Das Geheimnis der unsichtbaren Schwelle. Bartolomeo Passerottis Allegra compagnia als Gemeinschaft von Toren. 2022.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
A lute player peasant with nodular goiter by Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529–1592), Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2019Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q809512: Bartolomeo PassarottiWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
4,138 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Bartholomeus DolendoEngraver
- Bartholomew HowlettEngraver
- Bartolomeo BiscainoEngraver
- Bartolomeo CoriolanoEngraver
- Bartolommeo TutianiEngraver
- Battista Franco VenezianoEngraver
- Bea MaddockEngraver
- Beat StreuliEngraver
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