Biography

Italian Baroque painter. His early training was in Rome, in the workshop of the sculptor Alessandro Algardi, who encouraged his inclination towards disegno. He then worked under the Bolognese Giovanni Giacomo Sementi, an uninspired imitator of Guido Reni. Sementi died in 1636, and in 1638 Brandi visited Naples. In 1646-47 he was again in Rome, employed in the workshop of Giovanni Lanfranco, who had recently returned from Naples. This is confirmed by Brandi's Joseph's Dream (Rome, Galeria Corsini), which is based on one of Lanfranco's works. In 1647 Brandi joined the Accademia dei Virtuosi al Pantheon in Rome and from 1651 was present at the meetings of the Accademia di S Luca. He executed paintings, frescoes and stuccoes for the Chiesa di S. Carlo al Corso (1673-84), paintings for Chiesa di S. Andrea al Quirinale and for other churches in Rome.