Tanzio da Varallo (real name Antonio d’Enrico) came from a family of stonemasons and sculptors. The dates of his life vary slightly in different sources, I will quote from English Wikipedia: ca. 1575/80 – ca. 1632/35. He had two older brothers – Giovanni and Melchiorre, a sculptor and a painter, respectively. Little is known about the early years of the artist.

In 1600, he left for Rome with his brother Melchior, and returned to his native land only in 1615, and from this period, very few works have survived. In Rome, he was very strongly influenced by the work of Caravaggio, and this is not surprising – it is difficult to find an artist in the 17th century who was not influenced by Michelangelo II.

Tacchio was even nicknamed the “Alpine Caravaggio”, and I think this is unfair, because despite the fact that his painting is a bizarre fusion of Caravaggism and Mannerism, it still gravitates towards the latter. Tanzio da Varallo, being almost the same age as Michelangelo Merisi, is incomparably more archaic. Perhaps the reason for this is the provincialism that was not eradicated during the decade and a half of his stay in central Italy. In his art, it is difficult to separate naturalism from mannerist idealism. Some works look repulsive, and at the same time fascinating. In a sense, Tanzio da Varallo can be seen as a forerunner of magical realism, Paul Cadmus in particular.