Jacopo Amigoni (ca. 1685 – September 1752), also named Giacomo Amiconi, was an Italian painter of the late- Baroque or

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

period, who began his career in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, but traveled and was prolific throughout Europe, where his sumptuous

portrait A portrait is a painting, 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, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

s were much in demand.

Biography

He was born in

. Amigoni initially painted both mythological and religious scenes; but as the panoply of his patrons expanded northward, he began producing many parlour works depicting gods in sensuous languor or games. His style influenced Giuseppe Nogari. Among his pupils were Charles Joseph Flipart, Michelangelo Morlaiter, Pietro Antonio Novelli, Joseph Wagner, and

Antonio Zucchi Antonio Pietro Francesco Zucchi (1 May 1726 – 1 December 1795) was an Italian painter and printmaker of the Neoclassic period. Life Zucchi was born in Venice, he studied under his uncle Carlo Zucchi and later Francesco Fontebasso and Jacopo ...

. Starting in 1717, he is documented as working in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

in the Castle of Nymphenburg (1719); in the castle of Schleissheim (1725–1729); and in the Benedictine abbey of

Ottobeuren Ottobeuren (Swabian: ''Ottobeire'', Medieval Latin: ''Ottobura'') is a market town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany, located 11 km southeast of Memmingen near the A7. It is famous for Ottobeuren Abbey, situated next to the Basilica. The t ...

. He returned to Venice in 1726. His ''Arraignment of Paris'' hangs in the

Villa Pisani Villa Pisani at Stra refers to the monumental, late-Baroque rural palace located along the Brenta Canal ( Riviera del Brenta) at Via Doge Pisani 7 near the town of Stra, on the mainland of the Veneto, northern Italy. This villa is one of the lar ...

at Stra. From 1730 to 1739 he worked in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in Pown House, Moor Park

Wolterton Hall Wolterton Hall, is a large country house in the ecclesiastical parish of Wickmere with Wolterton and the civil parish of Wickmere in the English county of Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. The present hall was commissioned by the 1st Lord Walpol ...

and in the theatre of Covent Garden. From there, he helped convince

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 ...

to travel to England by telling him of the ample patronage available. In London or during a trip to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1736, he met the celebrated castrato Farinelli, whose portrait he painted twice in 1735 and again in 1752. Amigoni also encountered the painting of

François Lemoyne François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which co ...

and François Boucher. In 1739 he returned to Italy, perhaps to Naples and surely to Montecassino, in whose Abbey existed two canvases (destroyed during World War II). He travelled to Venice to paint for Sigismund Streit, for the Casa Savoia and other buildings of the city. In 1747 he left Italy for Madrid, encouraged by Farinelli, who held a court appointment there. He became

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

Ferdinand VI of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy , birth_date = 23 September 1713 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Villavi ...

and director of the Royal Academy of Saint Fernando. He painted a group portrait that included himself, Farinelli, Metastasio, Teresa Castellini, and an unidentified young man. The young man may have been the Austrian Archduke Joseph, the Habsburg heir to the throne. Amigoni died in Madrid. Amigoni was the father of the pastellist Caterina Amigoni Castellini, and the brother of the artist Carlotta Amigoni.

Partial anthology

''Consul Marcus Curius Dentatus prefers turnips to the Samnites' gifts''''Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach''Print after Amigoni of ''Princess Amelia Sophia Eleanora''Prints after portraits by Amigoni.''Venus and Adonis''

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amigoni, Jacopo 1682 births 1752 deaths 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Rococo painters Painters from Venice Court painters Painters from Naples Religious painters 18th-century Italian male artists