ODDI Mauro

(Parma 1639 – 1721)

Italian painter, architect and engraver.
By the will of the Duchess Maria di Parma he was sent to Rome to learn the pictorial art under the guidance of Pietro da Cortona. After six years of study he was called back to Parma to decorate the ducal apartment in the Ducal Palace of Colorno. The skill and diligence shown in the performance of this task earned him the title of painter and architect to the Court of Farnese.
He designed and built the facade of the church of Saint Lucia in Parma and collaborated significantly to the completion of the interior and exterior decorations of the church of Santa Maria della Steccata and modified extensively the structure of the most important and solemn part of the church itself: the presbytery.
His paintings are preserved in several churches in Parma and Piacenza.
As an engraver, he performed few, but valuable etchings, deriving subjects from Jacopo Caraglio, Agostino Carracci and Parmigianino.