Domenichino. Domenico Zampieri, known by the diminutive Domenichino after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters.
The Communion of St. Jerome is considered one of Domenichino's masterpieces and is known for its dramatic use of light and shadow. The work depicts St. Jerome receiving communion from an angel in a dark, cavernous space.
The painting is housed in the Vatican. The Farnese Ceiling, a large-scale fresco, is considered one of Domenichino's most important works.
It is in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The painting depicts the mythological story of the goddess Aurora abducting the mortal Cephalus.
Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoemaker, and there initially studied under Denis Calvaert. After quarreling with Calvaert, he left to work in the Accademia degli Incamminati of the Carracci where, because of his small stature, he was nicknamed Domenichino, meaning little Domenico in Italian. He left Bologna for Rome in 1602 and became one of the most talented apprentices to emerge from Annibale Carracci's supervision. As a young artist in Rome he lived with his slightly older Bolognese colleagues Albani and Guido Reni, and worked alongside Lanfranco, who later would become a chief rival. In addition to assisting Annibale with completion of his frescoes in the Galleria Farnese, including A Virgin with a Unicorn, he painted three of his own