Workshop Of Simonini, The Battle Of Fornovo

Bottega di Francesco Simonini (Parma, 16 June 1686 - Venice or Florence, 1753 or 1755)

The battle of Fornovo

(2) Oil on canvas, cm 32 x 64,5

With frame, cm 39 x 71

Born in Parma, Simonini trained at the vast workshop of Francesco Monti, known as the Brescianino of battles, under the guidance of another student of the Brescia native fighter, Ilario Spolverini. Equipped with great talent, following his inclination to paint battles, he acquired a great reputation in that genre of painting also producing, especially as regards the first years of his career as an artist, many drawings "characterized by a lively pictorial style". After his training in Parma, he worked independently in Florence with the Piccolomini family, which gave him the opportunity to study the works of Borgognone. In particular, he made copies of twenty-four paintings by this author, thus increasing his knowledge and refining his skills. He then moved to Rome, where he served several knights, aristocrats and cardinals. Then he went to Bologna, where he established a school and had good success in both oil painting and watercolor: among his most prestigious clients in the Bolognese area was certainly Cardinal Ruffo, ambassador of the pope in Bologna. Later, he moved to Venice, where in 1744 he painted paintings with battles, landscapes, fortresses, fights to decorate a large Sala di Casa Capello. In laguna he worked not only for the Venetian patrician but also for the rich international aristocracy that was settling in the city in the early eighteenth century.