Mazzucchelli, called Morazzone, Pier Francesco

1573–1626

Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli was an Italian painter and draughtsman who was active in Milan. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, but his outstanding achievements are large decorative frescoes for the Sacro Monte di Varese and the Sacro Monte di Varallo. With Giovanni Battista Crespi, Giulio Cesare Procaccini and Tanzio da Varallo, he was one of the principal Lombard painters of the early 17th century. Like many of his contemporaries, he was strongly affected by the piety and mysticism of the teaching of Charles Borromeo, yet his work is distinguished from theirs by a greater classicism, owing to his training in Rome.