Italian Renaissance painter Fede Gallizi, also known as Fede Galizia (1578-1630), is often considered the pioneer of the Still-Life style. Her father, Nunzio Galizia (1573-95), a miniaturist, named her Fede (Italian, meaning faith) and trained her. At the age of twelve, he received praise from the celebrated painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo (1538-1592) for the imitations he had created. At an early age, Fede demonstrated her creative caliber, especially in portraiture, and began working on commission.
His early paintings focused on jewelry and clothing, capturing their intricate details that greatly tapped into the painter’s ability to portray. Galizia was also often invited to paint religious and secular subjects. She made her first ‘dated’ still life, in 1602. Fede painted miniatures, portraits and altarpieces, but her forte was still life. Oriented to the Renaissance and flavored with Realism, her creations were detailed, full of vibrant colors and wonderful light effects. They would almost force the viewer to reach out and try to hold the objects in the image. Her attention to light, shadow, and interpretation between the two of them was sometimes unrivaled. Immersed in the Lombard mannerism of the 16th century, most of her still lifes were with fruits and flowers. The only variations in the catch existed as cut fruit.
Fede Galizia was also an excellent painter of altarpieces and miniatures. He received several related public commissions for the churches of Milan. The best-known altarpiece of his is the ‘Noli me tangere’ (1616), which he executed for the altar of the Church of Santa Maria Magdalena, Florence. While his most famous work is ‘Still Life with Peaches, Porcelain and Bowl’, ‘Peaches in a Perforated White Earthenware Basket’ also received much acclaim. His portraits, believed to be self-portraits, such as ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes’ (1596) and ‘Judith and her Handmaiden’ (1596) are also renowned for their creative versatility. His portrait ‘Portrait of Paolo Morigia’ (1596) so impressed the writer Morigia that he became a devoted supporter of Fede. Throughout her life, the painter kept going back and forth between the triangle of Italy, Greece and Spain to gather some creative fodder.
Despite all the work he was putting in, Galizia’s talent did not receive the amount of praise it deserved. While several of his most beautiful works were attributed to his male counterpart Panfilo Nuvolone (1581-1651), many others went unnoticed. Living as a happy spinster, she passed away in 1630, due to the plague that ravaged Milan during 1629-31. At the end of the 20th century, 1963-89 to be precise, her works were studied and achieved the fame and respect they deserved.