Giovanni Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765) was an Italian painter and
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''
vedutisti
A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''.
Origins
This genre ...
'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Panini is best known for his vistas of Rome, in which he took a particular interest in the city's antiquities. Among his most famous works are his view of the interior of the
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
(on behalf of
Francesco Algarotti), and his ''vedute''—paintings of picture galleries containing views of Rome. Most of his works, especially those of ruins, have a fanciful and unreal embellishment characteristic of ''
capriccio'' themes. In this they resemble the ''capricci'' of
Marco Ricci
Marco Ricci (6 June 1676 – 21 January 1730) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.
Early years
He was born at Belluno and received his first instruction in art from his uncle, Sebastiano Ricci, likely in Milan in 1694–6.Giacometti, Mar ...
. Panini also painted portraits, including one of
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...
.
Biography
As a young man, Panini trained in his native town of
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
, under
Giuseppe Natali and
Andrea Galluzzi, and with stage designer
Francesco Galli-Bibiena. In 1711, 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 studied drawing with
Benedetto Luti
Benedetto Luti (17 November 1666 – 17 June 1724) was an Italian painter.
Early life
Luti was born in Florence on 17 November 1666.
Career
In 1691, he moved to Rome, where he was patronized by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, an en ...
.
In Rome, Panini earned a name for himself as a decorator of palaces. Some of his works included the Villa Patrizi (1719–1725), the Palazzo de Carolis (1720), and the
Seminario Romano (1721–1722). In 1719, Panini was admitted to the ''Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon''. He taught in Rome at the ''
Accademia di San Luca
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 ...
'' and the ''Académie de France'', where he is said to have influenced
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...
. In 1754, he served as the prince (director) of the ''
Accademia di San Luca
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 ...
''.
The Spanish monarchs appreciated his work in such a way that, commissioned by
Filippo Juvarra
Filippo is an Italian language, Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English language, English name Philip (name), Philip, from the Greek language, Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name ...
, he sent paintings to decorate the Lacquer Room of the
Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. In addition,
King Carlos IV, when he was Prince, bought several of his works that are still preserved in the
Prado Museum
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from th ...
and in the royal palaces.
Panini died in Rome on 21 October 1765.
[Anna Maria Ferrari.]
Panini, Giovanni Paolo
" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 27 March 2010.
Legacy
Panini's studio included
Hubert Robert and his son Francesco Panini. His style influenced other vedutisti, such as his pupils
Antonio Joli
Antonio Francesco Lodovico Joli (13 March 1700 – 29 April 1777) was an Italian painter of ''vedute'' and ''capricci''.
Biography
Born in Modena, he first was apprenticed to Rafaello Rinaldi. He then studied in Rome under Giovanni Paolo Pa ...
and
Charles-Louis Clérisseau, as well as
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
and
Bernardo Bellotto, who sought to meet the need of visitors for painted "postcards" depicting the Italian environs. Some British landscape painters, such as Marlow, Skelton and Wright of Derby, also imitated his capricci.
In addition to being a painter and architect, Panini was a professor of perspective and optics at the French Academy of Rome. His masterful use of perspective was later the inspiration for the creation of the "
Panini Projection
Image stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most ap ...
", which is instrumental in rendering panoramic views.
https://www.facebook.com/paniniprojection]
Panini's works are held in the permanent collections of many museums worldwide, including the
Prado Museum
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from th ...
,
the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
, the
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Ital ...
,
the
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...
,
the
Hermitage,
the
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...
,
the
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (, "State Gallery") is an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, it opened in 1843. In 1984, the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie (''New State Gallery'') designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial gallery ...
,
the
Staatliche Museen,
the
Palazzo del Quirinale,
the
Toledo Museum of Art
The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...
, the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Cro ...
, the
Saint Louis Art Museum
The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, ...
, the
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...
, the
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overl ...
, 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 ...
, the
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...
, the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the ...
, the
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...
, the
Harvard Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...
, and the
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...
.
Gallery
History paintings
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
Expulsion of the Moneychangers from the Temple'' (ca. 1724), oil on canvas, 74 x 99 cm., Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini The Wedding at Cana, about 1725.jpg, '' The Wedding at Cana'' (ca. 1725), oil on canvas, 99.2 × 137.2 cm., Speed Art Museum
The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765) - Marcus Curtius Leaping into the Gulf - 207 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg, '' Marcus Curtius Leaping into the Gulf'' (no date), oil on canvas, 73.7 x 98.1 cm., Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th V ...
File:Museo diocesano (Milan) Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Apollo e Marsia (cropped).jpg, ''Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
'' (no date), oil on canvas, Diocesan Museum of Milan
Capriccios
National Museum, Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art ( Eg ...
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - Roman Capriccio, The Colosseum and Other Monuments - 50.6 - Indianapolis Museum of Art.jpg, ''Roman Capriccio: The Colosseum and Other Monuments'' (1735), oil on canvas, 98.4 x 133 cm.,
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765) - Capriccio of Roman Ruins with the Colosseum - PD.107-1992 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg, ''A Capriccio of Roman Ruins'' (1737), oil on canvas, 36.8 x 69.2 cm.,
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - Fantasy View with the Pantheon and other Monuments of Ancient Rome - 61.62 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg, ''Fantasy View with the Pantheon and other Monuments of Ancient Rome'' (1737), oil on canvas, 99 x 137.5 cm.,
File:Giovanni Paolo Pannini - St Sibyl's Sermon in Roman Ruins with the Statue of Apollo, 1740s.jpg, ''St Sibyl's Sermon in Roman Ruins with the Statue of Apollo'' (1740s), oil on canvas, 81 x 125 cm.,
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - A Capriccio of the Roman Forum - 1964.41 - Yale University Art Gallery.jpg, ''A Capriccio of the Roman Forum'' (1741), oil on canvas, 170.8 x 217.8 cm.,
File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - An Architectural Capriccio of the Roman Forum with Philosophers and Soldiers among Ancient Ruins, in... - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Architectural Capriccio of the Roman Forum with Philosophers and Soldiers'' (1745-50), oil on canvas, 98.4 x 135 cm.,