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| Carlo Cignani Assumption of the Virgin ca. 1686-1706 cupola fresco (detail) Cappella della Madonna del Fuoco, Cattedrale di Santa Croce, Forlì |
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| Carlo Cignani Assumption of the Virgin ca. 1686-1706 cupola fresco Cappella della Madonna del Fuoco, Cattedrale di Santa Croce, Forlì |
"Carlo Cignani was born of a noble family at Bologna, where he studied under Battista Cairo, and afterwards under Francesco Albani. Though an intimate friend of the latter, and his most famous disciple, Cignani was yet strongly and deeply influenced by the genius of Correggio. His greatest work, moreover, the Assumption of the Virgin round the cupola of the chapel of the Madonna del Fuoco at Forlì, which occupied him some twenty years, and is in some respects one of the most remarkable works of art of the 17th century, is obviously inspired from the more renowned fresco of Correggio in the cupola of the cathedral of Parma. Cignani had some of the defects of his masters; his elaborate finish, his audacious artificiality in the use of colour and in composition, mark the disciple of Albani; but he imparted to his work a more intellectual character than either of his models, and is not without other remarkable merits of his own. As a man, Cignani was eminently amiable, unassuming and generous. His success, however, made him many enemies, and the envy of some of these is said to have impelled them to deface certain of his works. On his removal to Forlì, where he died, the school he had founded in Bologna was fain in some sort to follow its master."
– from the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
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| Carlo Cignani Joseph and Potiphar's Wife ca. 1680 oil on canvas Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden |
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| attributed to Carlo Cignani Figure-study before 1719 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| attributed to Carlo Cignani Figure-study before 1719 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Carlo Cignani Penitent Magdalen ca. 1685-90 oil on canvas Dulwich Picture, Gallery London |
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| Carlo Cignani Praying Magdalen ca. 1670-80 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| attributed to Carlo Cignani Venus and Adonis before 1711 oil on canvas Wellington Collection, Apsley House, London |
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| Carlo Cignani Study for Venus ca. 1662-65 drawing National Museum, Warsaw |
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| Carlo Cignani Study for Mars ca. 1660-68 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| attributed to Carlo Cignani Figure-study before 1719 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Carlo Cignani Figure-study ca. 1650-1700 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Carlo Cignani Figure-study before 1719 drawing National Library of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro |
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| attributed to Carlo Cignani Two Cloud-Borne Female Figures before 1719 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |