Udine, Giovanni da

Udine, Giovanni da (b Udine, 27 Oct. 1487; d Rome, 1561/4).
Italian painter, stuccoist, and architect. He was one of Raphael's leading assistants in Rome and is chiefly important for his role in reviving antique techniques of stucco and the ancient taste for grotesques, inspired by archaeological discoveries. His light and graceful style, seen best in the Vatican Loggie (1517–19), was imitated all over Europe, particularly by Neoclassical designers. In 1522 he returned to Udine; he spent most of the rest of his life there, but he had further sojourns in Rome (where he died) and also worked in Florence and Venice.