Mainly a decorative painter, Grimaldi was trained in Bologna in the Carracci tradition. With the exception of two years in France (1649-51), where he decorated buildings for Cardinal Mazarin, most part of his life was spent in Rome. Certainly, his major artistic activities as a decorator in Rome were in the Palazzo del Quirinale, in the The Vatican City, and in the Casino of the Villa Doria-Pamphili.
Grimaldi's large reputation was sufficiently established by 1636 for him to be called as a member of the Accademia di San Luca, of which he became president in 1666. In addition to the above mentioned prestigious commissions, Grimaldi produced innumerable drawings and a number of etchings, almost entirely representing landscape subjects. His graphic oeuvre was influenced by his master Dughet, by Annibale Carracci and Domenichino at first and, later, by Claude Lorrain. |
