Natale Schiavoni (25 April 1777 – 15 April 1858) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter and engraver, specializing in history and portraits. Many of his paintings depict seductive nubile women.

Biography

Schiavoni was born in

Chioggia Chioggia (; , ; ) is a coastal town and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is located on a small island at the southern entrance to the Venetian Lagoon about sou ...

, near

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, and was claimed by Frederick Mason Perkins to be a distant descendant of Andrea Schiavone, the Renaissance painter. In Venice, he trained with Francesco Maggiotto and later came under the influence of the

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. He was peripatetic, traveling in 1800 to

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, and in 1810 to Milan, where he painted

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, ...

and the royal family. In Milan, he was able to frequent the studios of Appiani, Longhi, and Sabatelli. In 1816, Schiavoni was invited by the Austrian emperor to Vienna, to become the official portraitist for the court. From there, he returned to Venice in 1821, where he became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. He resided in the Palazzo Giustinian on the Grand Canal. He died there in 1858. Among his works are a ''Penitent Magdalene'' (1852), in the National Gallery of Berlin; a painting on the same subject at the

Vienna Museum The Vienna Museum ( or ''Museen der Stadt Wien'') is a group of museums in Vienna consisting of the museums of the history of the city. In addition to the main building in Karlsplatz, the group includes some locations, numerous specialised museu ...

; a ''Bacchante'', at the Stadel Gallery in Frankfort; and an ''Adoration of Shepherds'', displayed at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London. He was awarded a gold medal at an exhibition in Brussels. The art historian, , later described his works as ''in coloring, highly skillful, but in shading, inimitably supreme''. His sons Felice (1803–68) and

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

(1804–48) were also painters of mythology and history. Among his followers was Antonio Zuccaro (1815–1892).Museo Morpurgo
''Ritratto di Fanciulla'' by Zuccaro. Many of his paintings were engraved by Luigi Boscolo.

Gallery

File:Alexander Nikolaevich of Russia by N.Schiavoni (1838, Hermitage).jpg, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, 1838 File:Natale Schiavoni (Odalisque).jpg, ''Odalisque'', 1845, Museo Revoltella, Trieste. File:Schiavoni sedicenne.jpg, ''Dream of a Sixteen Year old'', circa 1820. File:The-sleeper.jpg, ''The Sleeper'', circa 1820. File:Natale Schiavoni, 1777-1858. Венера. 103 x 81 см. Частная коллекция (33703798848).jpg, Venus (Treviso) Natale Schiavoni - Flora.jpg, ''Flora'' , Museo civico Luigi Bailo

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiavoni, Natale 1777 births 1858 deaths Burials at Isola di San Michele 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters Painters from Venice Italian neoclassical painters 19th-century Italian male artists 18th-century Italian male artists Republic of Venice people