Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) was born at Bologna son of a shoemaker in 1581. He initially studied humanities, but soon became more interested in art than in rhetoric or grammar.
His biographer Malvasia reports that the young Domenichino possessed quite some endurance in painting on walls and in watching painters at work, up until the point that his father finally allowed him to take first painting lessons. Denis Calvart was Domenichino´s (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) teacher, Guido Reni and Francesco Albani were his fellow students. When the master, who was notorious for his temper, caught the young Domenichino drawing after engravings by Agostino Carracci, he expelled him from class. It is likely that Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) changed to the Carracci School around 1595/96. The influence will become obvious in Domenichino´s baroque classicism.
In 1602 Domenichino went to Rome, where his former fellow students Albani and Reni were already active. In Rome Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) cooperated with Annibale Carracci, who brought him in contact with the Farnese family.
In 1604/05 Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) executed the frescos for San Onofrio, his first public commission in the Eternal City, followed by numerous further frescos in various churches in Rome. He worked in a sensual mode in the sense of "Counter Reformation". Additionally, he made altar pieces and panels in often large formats.
In 1612 Domenichino shortly visited his native town Bologna and returned to Rome again. His reputation increased consistently, as numerous commissions deliver proof of. In 1621 Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) was appointed the pope´s architect, in 1628 he was elected president of the Accademia di S. Luca. With Domenichino´s rising success, the share the workshop had in his works also increased.
In 1620 Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) married Marsibilia di Rinaldo Barbetti, daughter of an influential Bolognese family, who modeled for him, she appears on some of his paintings in various roles. They had two boys, however, both died at a very young age, but luckily Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) became father of a daughter.
In 1631 Domenichino and his small family moved to Naples, where he was able to continue his merits earned in Rome (frescos in cathedral Cappella del Tesoro, 1638-1640), which, in return, earned him a lot of envy.
For art history, Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) attained great achievements also in landscape painting, because the few paintings of that type he had actually made were quite influential on the further development of this genre (Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin). Not least, Domenichino is a renowned drawer, leaving behind some 2.000 sheets.
Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Domenico Giampieri) died at the age of 60 in 1641.