(also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 ?C April 28, 1754) was an Italian rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes. Piazzetta was born in Venice, the son of a sculptor Giacomo Piazzetta, from whom he had early training in wood carving. Starting in 1697 he studied with the painter Antonio Molinari. By Piazzetta's account, he studied under Giuseppe Maria Crespi while living in Bologna in 1703-05, although there is no record by Crespi of formal tutelage. Piazzetta did find inspiration in Crespi's art, in which the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio was transformed into an idiom of graceful charm. He was also greatly impressed by the altarpieces created by another Bolognese painter of a half-century earlier, Guercino. Around 1710, he returned to Venice. There he won recognition as a leading artist despite his limited output and his unassuming nature, but he ultimately was less patronized, both in Venice and especially abroad, than two other eminent stars in Venetian late-Baroque/Rococo, Ricci and Tiepolo. These two painters had a luminous palette and facile ease that allowed them to carpet meters of ceiling with frescoes, although with a superficiality and glamor that is absent from Piazzetta's darker and more intimate depictions. Nonetheless,Tiepolo, who collaborated with Piazzetta on some projects, was greatly influenced by the older artist; in turn, the luminosity and brilliance of Tiepolo's palette would influence Piazzetta in his later years. Piazzetta created an art of warm, rich color and a mysterious poetry. He often depicted peasantry, even if often in a grand fashion. He was highly original in the intensity of color he sometimes used in his shadows, and in the otherworldly quality he gave to the light which throws part of a composition into relief. The gestures and glances of his protagonists hint at unseen dramas, as in one of his best-known paintings, The Soothsayer(1740, now in Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice). He brought similar elusiveness to works of a religious nature, such as the Sotto in su Glory of St. Dominic in the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Also notable are his many carefully rendered drawings of half-length figures or groups of heads. Usually in charcoal or black chalk with white heightening on gray paper, these are filled with the same spirit that animates his paintings, and were purchased by collectors as independent works. He also produced engravings. In 1750 Piazzetta became the first director of the newly founded Scuola di Nudo, and he devoted himself in the last few years of his life to teaching. He was elected a member of the Bolognese Accademia Clementina in 1727. Among the painters in his studio were Domenico Maggiotto, Francesco Dagiu (il Capella), John Henry Tischbien the Elder, Egidio Dall'Oglio, and Antonio Marinetti.[1] Among younger painters who emulated his style are Giulia Lama, Federico Bencovich, and Francesco Polazzo (1683?C1753). He died in Venice in 1754.   Related Paintings of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta :. | Art Institute, Chicago | Beggar boy | Death of Joseph | Rebecca am Brunnen | Die Wahrsagerin |
Related Artists:
Per Wilhelm Cedergren
painted Winter picture from Dalaro Skans in 1856
Niccolo Bambini
(1651-1736) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque periods. He was born in Venice, and first studied under Giulio Mazzoni at Venice; but afterwards went to Rome, where he became a pupil of Carlo Maratti. He painted for the church of San Stefano soon after his return from Rome. He died in Venice. He had two sons who were painters, Giovanni and Stefano.
Cornelis van Spaendonck Prints
Dutch 1756-1840 Cornelis van Spaendonck (7 December 1756 - 22 December 1839) was a Dutch painter who was a native of Tilburg. Spaendonck initially worked under artist Guillaume-Jacques Herreyns (1743-1827) in Antwerp, and in 1773 moved to Paris to study and work with his brother, floral painter G??rard van Spaendonck (1746-1822). From 1785 to 1800, Cornelis van Spaendonck was head of the porcelain works at S??vres. Due to difficulties encountered as an administrator, he was relieved of his directorship in 1800, but remained at S??vres as a designer and artist until 1808. In 1789 Spaendonck became a member of the Acad??mie des Beaux Arts. He painted throughout his lifetime, and displayed his works at the Salons of Paris until 1833. Most of Spaendonck's works were created with oils and gouache, and he is remembered for his lush still-lifes of flowers. Among his paintings were subjects such as De Fleurs Et Fruits, Vase De Fleurs, Bouquet De Different Fleurs, Fleurs Du Jardin, Corbeille Fleurs, et al. At his death in 1840 there were 29 paintings in his studio, which were auctioned soon afterwards.