Guido Nincheri
1885-1973
 |
La décoration de l'église Saint-Viateur, 1923 |
Born in Prato, Tuscany, Italy, he studied Fine Arts in Florence. He immigrated in Canada in 1915. He started in stained glass arts under the wing of Henri Perdriau. In 1924 he started his own workshop in decorative arts in Montreal in a building loaned by Oscar and Marius Dufresne brothers. In return, Nincheri decorated the house known today as the Château Dufresne. It will be among his few secular works because the artist was devoted entirely to decorate churches. In addition to mastering stained glass windows arts, Nincheri was a talented painter of frescoes and he had a background in architecture. The demanding technique he used to produce his frescoes, which involves to paint on still fresh plaster cast, has earned him to be called the "Michelangelo of Canada" in medias. Pope Pius XI had even declared in 1933 that he was the greatest religious artist of the Church !
 |
A imbroglio led to his arrest for fascism in 1940. He had illustrated Mussolini in a fresco at the church Notre-Dame de la Défense a few years earlier. He then retired to Providence, Rhode Island but did not abandon his activities in Montreal. He made the frescoes of St. Ann's Church in Providence, a wonderful work. He gave the financial management of the studio to Gabriel, his eldest son in 1948 and he assured the artistic direction until 1966, when the studio closed its doors.
He has decorated more than 200 places of worship in North America where there are more than 5000 of its windows. He won severals awards. A park bears his name in Montreal near the Olympic Stadium. He was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery at the foot of a modest gravestone.
Nincheri's stained glass works are of exceptional beauty. He shows a complete mastery of the behavior of light and shadow in the glass, giving a vast and deep aspect in its depictions. His color palette is always chosen with accuracy and generosity.
Below are some places in Quebec where one can see stained glass windows made by Guido Nincheri. The church St-Leon of Westmount in Montreal is the work of his life.
- The church Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Montreal
- The church St-Leon of Westmount, Montreal
- The cathedral of l'Assomption, Trois-Rivieres
- The church St-Jean Baptiste, Montreal
- The church Ste-Amélie, Baie-Comeau
- The church St-Pierre, Shawinigan
- The church Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense, Montreal
- The church St-Coeur de Marie, Quebec
- The church St-François-Xavier, Riviere-du-Loup
- The library of the Assemblée Nationale
- The church Notre-Dame, Granby
- The church St-Viateur d'Outremont, Montreal
- The church Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours, Montreal
- The cathedral Ste-Cécile, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
- The church St-Sauveur, Montreal (demolished to make way for the new CHUM hospital)
Artworks of Guido Nincheri are protected by copyright. The photographs are shown with the kind permission of his family. Pictures below are courtesy of Boccini Nincheri Studio.
 |
Studio Boccini-Nincheri |
 |
Studio Boccini-Nincheri |
 |
Studio Boccini-Nincheri |
content :