Barbelli Gian Giacomo "the Wedding Feast Of Esther And Ahasuerus"

Barbelli Gian Giacomo (1604-1656),
"The Wedding Feast of Esther and Ahasuerus",
oil on canvas, 78.5x101.5 cm, 95x116 cm with frame

Gian Giacomo Barbelli began his career in the workshop of the painter Tommaso Pombioli in Crema. His first dated and signed work dates back to 1622; between 1625 and 1630 he moved to Milan and occasionally went to Valtellina and Alto Lario.
Once his Milanese period was over, in 1630 he returned to Crema and began working on various commissions.
Throughout the decade 1630-1640 Barbelli was intensely active between Brescia, Crema and Lodi, so much so that he had to open a workshop where Evaristo Baschenis (Bergamo, 7 December 1617 – Bergamo, 16 March 1677) and two of his eight children would work.
His activity in the 1640s was also intense, including a famous cycle of frescoes in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Crema. The artist worked not only in Brescia and Crema, but also in Bergamo and the surrounding towns, and his activity continued regularly into the 1650s.
In 1656 he was called to Calcinato to work on the decoration of Palazzo Mercanda, but unfortunately in July of the same year he was hit by a harquebus shot during a hunting trip and died while still young a few days later.