Theseus discovering his Father's Sword by Antonio Balestra

Antonio Balestra (12 August 1666 – 21 April 1740) was an Italian painter of the

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.

Biography

Born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, he first apprenticed there with Giovanni Zeffio. By 1690 he moved to

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 ...

, where he worked for three years under

Antonio Bellucci Antonio Bellucci (19 February 1654 – 29 August 1726) was an Italian soldier who became a painter of the Rococo period and was best known for his work in England, Germany, and Austria. He was one of the many Venetian-trained artists of his time ...

, then moved to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

and then to paint in

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

's workshop in Rome. In 1694, he won a prize from the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fi ...

. He later painted both in Verona and Venice; although his influence was stronger in the mainland. His pupils in Verona were Pietro Rotari and

Giambettino Cignaroli Giambettino Cignaroli (Verona, July 4, 1706 – Verona, December 1, 1770) was an Italian painter of the Rococo and early Neoclassic period. Biography He was a pupil of Santo Prunato and Antonio Balestra and active mostly in the area of th ...

. In Venice, he painted for the churches of the I Gesuiti and

San Zaccaria The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is ded ...

, and the Scuola della Carita.

Pietro Longhi Pietro Longhi (1702 or November 5, 1701 – May 8, 1785) was a Venetian painter of contemporary genre scenes of life. Biography Pietro Longhi was born in Venice in the parish of Saint Maria, first child of the silversmith Alessandro Falca and ...

briefly worked under Balestra. In Venice, other pupils or painters he influenced, included Mariotti, Giuseppe Nogari, Mattia Bortoloni and Angelo Trevisani. He also influenced a young Giambattista Pittoni. Among his pupils from Verona were Domenico Pecchio, Domenico Bertini, and

Carlo Salis Carlo Salis (1680–1763) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Verona. He was initially a pupil of the painter Alessandro Marchesini, then went to work under Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole and later with Antonio Balestra in Venice ...

. In painting, Balestra was staid and reactionary. Wittkower quotes the distaste of Balestra in 1733 for the tendency of then-modern painters to deviate from enshrined standards of academic painting: He painted a ''Virgin and Infant, with Saints Ignatius and Stanislaus Kostka'' for the church of

Sant'Ignazio la, Ecclesia Sancti Ignatii a Loyola in Campo Martio , image = Sant'Ignazio Church, Rome.jpg , imagesize = 300px , caption = Façade of Sant'Ignazio , mapframe =yes , mapframe-caption ...

at Bologna. He also painted for churches of Venice,

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

, Padua,

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, and Verona. In prints, he etched a ''Head of a Warrior'', ''Virgin Mary and Infant in the Clouds, with Two Soldiers''; ''Vignette, with two figures holding a Flag of Verona'', and a ''Portrait of an Architect''

Works

*''Trinity'', Castelvecchio *''La ricchezza della terra'',

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

*''David and Goliath'', Carrara Academy, Bergamo *''The Miracle of Saint Nicholas'', City Museum, Busseto *''The Death of Abel'' (between 1701 and 1704) *''The Holy Family'',

National Gallery, Prague The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...

*''Portrait of Doge Alvise III'', Duchal Palace, Venice *''Adoration of the Magi'' (1707), Jalinch Collection, Zagreb *''The Annunciation'', Church of San Tommaso, Verona *''Madonna and Saints'', Church of Santa Maria in Organo, Verona **A replica is now at the

Pinacoteca civica di Forlì The Pinacoteca Civica of Forlì, one of the civic museums of Forlì and currently based in the Musei di San Domenico, is an Italian art gallery. Artists whose work the gallery exhibits include: * Livio Agresti * Clemente Alberi * Beato Angelico ...

*''Saint Oswald'', Church of San Stae, Venice *''Apollo and Midas'', Palazzo Pizzini, Rovereto *Santa Giustina (Saint Justine) church, Padua *''Adoration of Shepherds'' *''Martyr of Saints Cosmas and Damian'' (1717-1718) *''Theseus Discovering his Father's Sword'' *''Vision of the Virgin, alongside St Joseph, granting the scapular to Blessed Simone Stock'' (around 1725) San Marco in San Girolamo, Vicenza *'' San Luigi Gonzaga in preghiera davanti alla Vergine'' (1745), San Luigi Gonzaga Basilica, Castiglione delle StiviereSan Luigi Gonzaga - The basilica
*''Miracle of St Dominic'' *''Prophet Isaiah'' *''Saint Francis in Ecstasy'', Museo de Castelvecchio, Verona *''Madonna with Saints Andrew and Gregory'' (1734), San Gregorio al Celio, Rome *Frescoes at the villa of Alessandro Pompei Santa Giustina (Padua) - Chapel of Saint Luke - Martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian by Antonio Balestra.jpg, ''Martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian'' Santa Giustina (Padua) - Chapel of Saint Matthias - Saints Cosmas and Damian saved by the angel (1718) Antonio Balestra.jpg,

Abbey of Santa Giustina The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built ...

(1718) Padoua

Drawings

*''The Sacrifice of Isaac'', sanguine on blue paper,

LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 196 ...

, Los Angeles County Fund (54 12.7)

Sources

* (Google Books) * * *Lilli Ghio - Edi Baccheschi, Antonio Balestra, Ed. Bolis, 1989 *U. Ruggeri, Nuove opere documentate di Antonio Balestra, in Pittura veneziana dal Quattrocento al Settecento: studi di storia dell'arte in onore di Egidio Martini, a cura di G. M. Pilo, Venezia 1999 *G. Fossaluzza, Antonio Arrigoni "pittore in istoria", tra Molinari, Ricci, Balestra e Pittoni, in "Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte", 21, 1997

References

External links

Image of the ''Death of Abel''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balestra, Antonio 1666 births 1740 deaths Painters from Verona 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Rococo painters Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian people Pupils of Carlo Maratta 18th-century Italian male artists