GENGA, Girolamo (c. 1476-1551), a painter and architect, was born in Urbino towards 1476. At the age of teh he was apprenticed to the woollen trade, but showed so much inclination for drawing that he was sent to study under an obscure painter, and at thirteen under Luca Signorelli, with whom he remained a considerable while, frequently painting the accessories of his pictures. He was afterwards for three years with Pietro Perugino, in company with Raphael, and he developed a similar style of painting. He next worked in Florence and Siena, along with Timoteo della Vite; and in the latter city he painted various com. positions for Pandolfo Petrucci, the leading local statesman of the time. Returning to Urbino, he was employed by Duke Guidobaldo in the decorations of his palace, and showed extraordinary aptitude for theatrical adornments. Thence he went to Rome; and in the church of S. Caterina da Siena, in that capital, is one of his most distinguished works, The Resurrection, remarkable both for design and for colouring. He studied the Roman antiquities with zeal, and measured a number of edifices; this practice, combining with his previous mastery of perspective, qualified him to shine as an architect. Francesco Maria, the reigning duke of Urbino, recalled Genga, and commissioned him to execute works in connexion with his marriage-festivities. This prince being soon afterwards expelled by Pope Leo X., Genga followed him to Mantua, whence he went for a time to Pesaro. The duke of Urbino wa3 eventually restored to his dominions; he took Genga with him, and appointed him the ducal architect. As he neared the close of his career, Genga retired to a house in the vicinity of the city, continuing still to produce designs in pencil; one, of the Conversion of St Paul, was ...