Francesco Maria Raineri Known As Schivenoglia (1676 - 1758), Battle Scene

Francesco Maria Raineri known as Schivenoglia (Schivenoglia, 1676 - Mantua, 1758)
Battle scene
Oil on canvas, 85 x 110

The battle scene examined, according to stylistic comparisons with known works, is to be attributed to Francesco Maria Raineri, known as Schivenoglia, from the name of his birthplace (1676-1758). A protagonist in the context of Mantuan society in the transition from the Gonzagas to the Habsburgs, in the artistic horizon of the first half of the eighteenth century in the city, the painter enjoyed great appreciation among his contemporaries, especially as a painter of landscapes and battles. He was a disciple, together with Giuseppe Bazzani (1690-1769), in the workshop of Giovanni Canti, but his training was broad and diversified, arriving at reworking stimuli from Ligurian and Venetian painting up to the Austrian painting of Johann Sebastian Troger and Franz Anton Maulpertsch. Among his youthful experiences, it is worth mentioning the works in the Villa Strozzi in Palidano, in the style of Bibiena; he devoted himself to the various genres of painting, until the final results when, dean of Mantua artists, he became the first director of the newly founded Academy of Fine Arts in Mantua (1753).
His painting is distinguished by a warm and compact color, enhanced by strong contrasts, as well demonstrated in the canvas in question, where iridescent reds are combined with blues and whites. Here his liquid and filamentary painting is clearly evident, which flakes off the bodies of the protagonists, thanks to a brushstroke that spreads layers of color that are apparently perpetually wet, with brown chromatics, with subtle tonal passages.