Nebbia was born in
Orvieto. He trained with
Girolamo Muziano, with whom he helped complete a flurry of decoration that was added to the
Cathedral of Orvieto in the 1560s. Almost all the remaining work in Orvieto is now in the
Museo del Duomo. Nebbia and Muziano participated in many of the premier projects in late 16th-century
Rome. Along with Muziano's other assistant,
Giovanni Guerra, they decorated the
Gregorian Chapel in
St Peter's Basilica during the pontificate of
Gregory XIII (1572–1585). Other Mannerist painters involved in this enterprise were
Taddeo and
Federico Zuccari,
Niccolò Circignani, and
Hendrick van den Broeck (known as
Arrigo Fiammingo). The fresco decorations in
Palazzo Simonelli in Torre San Severo (near
Orvieto) have been attributed to Nebbia. In 1576, he painted a
Resurrection of Lazarus for the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi in
Città della Pieve. Nebbia and Guerra together supervised the two major fresco commissions of the pontificate of Pope
Sixtus V (1585–1590). Starting in 1586, they participated in the painting of scenes from the
Life of the Virgin in the church of
Santa Maria Maggiore and its new
Capella Sistina (not to be confused with the more famous
Sistine Chapel).
Giovanni Baglione identifies these frescos as the collaborative work of ten painters: • Cesare Nebbia •
Hendrick van den Broeck • Angelo from Orvieto •
Ercolino from Bologna •
Salvatore Fontana •
Lattanzio Mainardi •
Ferdinando Sermei •
Giacomo Stella •
Giovanni Battista Pozzo •
Paris Nogari. During the refurbishment of the Lateran palace and church of
San Giovanni in Laterano, Nebbia and Guerra painted in the
Scala Sancta and the papal
Sancta Sanctorum, the chapel of St. Lawrence. This project employed an overlapping crew of artists, including
Giovanni Baglione himself, Stella, Giovanni Battista Pozzo, Nogari,
Prospero Orsi,
Ferraù Fenzoni,
Paul Bril,
Paolo Guidotti,
Giovanni Battista Ricci,
Cesare Torelli,
Antonio Vivarini,
Andrea Lilio,
Cesare and
Vicenzo Conti,
Baldassare Croce,
Ventura Salimbeni, and
Antonio Scalvati. Numerous preliminary drawings by Nebbia exist for these frescoes. Nebbia helped paint galleries in Vatican libraries, including the ceilings of the
map gallery. During the papacy of
Clement VIII he designed the pendentive mosaics depicting the Evangelists Matthew and Mark for
St. Peter's Basilica. He painted a
Crucifixion for
Borghese chapel in the church of
Trinità dei Monti. He painted a
Resurrection for
San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. He painted a
Coronation of the Virgin for the church of
Santa Maria dei Monti. Along with
the painter known as il Bertoia,
Federico Zuccari and others, he helped fresco the walls of the
Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome. He also contributed to the decoration of the
Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso. In 1603-1604, he moved to
Milan where he worked for
Federico Borromeo painting a series of frescoes on the life of the
Blessed Carlo Borromeo for various sites, including the
Collegio Borromeo in
Pavia, the collegiata di
Arona, and the Palazzo Borromeo on
Isola Bella. He became the
prince of the
San Luca Academy in 1597. ==References==