Giuseppe Maria Crespi (Italian, 1665–1747)

MarGiuseppe Maria Crespi was born in Bologna on March 14, 1665, and died in the same city on July 16, 1747.¹

In 1708, Crespi fled to Florence and gained the patronage of the Grand Duke Ferdinand III de' Medici.¹

He had been forced to flee Bologna with the canvas, which while intended for the Duke, had been fancied by a local priest, Don Carlo Silva for himself.¹

The series of the Seven Sacraments was painted around 1712 and is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.¹

After his wife's death, from 1722 onwards, Crespi became reclusive, rarely leaving the house except to go to daily mass.²

Giuseppe Maria Crespi lived to be 82 years old.¹