Benedetto Luti (17 November 1666 – 17 June 1724) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

painter.

Early life

Luti was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 17 November 1666.

Career

In 1691, he moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was patronized by

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinan ...

, an enthusiast of Luti's pastel

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

ure. Luti was one of the first artists to work in pastels as the final composition as opposed to initial studies for paintings or frescoes. He also worked in

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and painted frescoes, including for the

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

. Luti was also a successful art dealer and ran a school of drawing; among his pupils were

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William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...

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, Gaetano Sardi, Agostino Ratti, Pietro Bianchi,

Placido Costanzi Placido Costanzi (1702–1759) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Placido Costanzi was born in 1702 to a family of gem-makers in Rome. He was exposed to art at a very young age, and became a pupil of Benedetto Luti and painted ma ...

, and

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Knighting

In 1720, he was knighted in the

Academy of St Luke The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

of Rome and elected Principe. The appointment was not without controversy, since some:Memorie per servire alla storia della romana Accademia di San Luca
by Melchiorre Missirini, page 203

"could not find anything (of Luti's) worthy of memory for the benefit of the arts. Pascoli's of account Luti, found him a deep intellect, and even more knowledgeable of the works that he draws, although ... because he knew too much and was never satisfied, he oftentimes recycled thoughts and figures: he did not make friends with anyone, and for this reason, when was elected Prince of the Academy, there was not much applause."

The next year he dedicated himself to painting frescoes the cupola of the Church of

Santi Luca e Martina Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus. History The church was initially dedicated to Saint Martina, martyred in 228 AD during the reign ...

in Rome.

Gallery

File:Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland - Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland'' at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, 1712 File:Christ and the Woman of Samaria - Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Christ and the Woman of Samaria'' at the

, 1715–20 File:Benedetto Luti - Head of a Young Girl - WGA13782.jpg, ''Young Girl'' (1717), pastel on paper File:Benedetto Luti - Head of a Young Boy - WGA13781.jpg, ''Young Boy'' (1717), pastel on paper File:Boy with the flute Benedetto Luti (1720).jpg, ''Boy with the flute'' (c. 1720), oil on canvas File:Luti Apollo and Daphne.jpg, ''Apollo and Daphne'', oil on canvas File:Allegoria della Sapienza.jpg, ''Allegory of Wisdom'' File:Rebecca at the well Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Rebecca at Well'' File:Ajaccio Luti Ste Catherine.JPG, ''St Catherine'', oil on canvas File:Seated Nude Male Figure (recto); Seated Figure (verso) - Benedetto Luti.jpg, Seated Nude Male Figure (recto); Seated Figure (verso)'' at the

References

* * R. Maffeis, ''Benedetto Luti'': ''l'ultimo maestro'', Firenze, Mandragora, 2012. * S. Sperindei, ''Nuovi spunti di ricerca su Benedetto Luti'', in "Annali della Pontificia Insigne Accademia di Belle Arti e Lettere dei Virtuosi al Pantheon", 14 (2014), pp. 601-612. * G. Sestieri, ''Risarcimenti a Benedetto Luti'', in Studi di storia dell’arte in onore di Fabrizio Lemme, a cura di F. Baldassari, A. Agresti, Roma 2017,pp. 265–276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luti, Benedetto 1666 births 1724 deaths Painters from Florence Italian Baroque painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters 18th-century Italian male artists