Benedetto Luti (17 November 1666 – 17 June 1724) was an

Italian Baroque painter Italian Baroque art was a very prominent part of the Baroque art in painting, sculpture and other media, made in a period extending from the end of the sixteenth to the mid eighteenth centuries. The movement began in Italy, and despite later curr ...

, draftsman, and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

ist.

Early life

Luti was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 17 November 1666. He trained under

Anton Domenico Gabbiani file:Antonio Domenico Gabbiani, pentecoste, 1705, 02.jpg, ''Pentecost'', 1705, San Giorgio alla Costa, Florence Anton Domenico Gabbiani (13 February 1652 – 22 November 1726) was an Italian painter and active in a late Baroque style. He worked ...

before moving to Rome in 1690.

Career

In Rome he gained the patronage of

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdina ...

,"Study of a Boy in a Blue Jacket", Metropolitan Museum of Art
/ref> an enthusiast of Luti's pastel

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

ure. Luti was one of the first artists to work in pastels as the final composition as opposed to initial studies for paintings or frescoes. Luti was employed by many of the leading Roman families of the day, including the

Colonna Colonna is an Italian word for column. The name Colonna may refer to: People * Colonna family, a noble family from Rome * Colonna (surname), an Italian surname Places ;Italy * Colonna, Lazio, a ''comune'' in the Province of Rome * Colonna, Cit ...

, Pallavicini, Barberini, and Odescalchi. He also worked in

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

and painted frescoes, including for the

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...

. He became a member of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () 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 first ''principe'' or director; ...

in 1694. Luti was also a successful art dealer and ran a school of drawing; among his pupils were

Giovanni Domenico Piastrini Giovanni Domenico Piastrini (1678–1740) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Tuscany and Rome. Biography He learned first skills from his father, Francesco Maria, who had painted in the Annunziata and San Lorenzo churches o ...

Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo, also known as Gian Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765), was an Italian Baroque painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Pani ...

Claude Arnulphy Claude Arnulphy (1697 - 22 June 1786), also spelt Arnulphi, was a French painter, chiefly of portraits, based at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Early life Arnulphy is claimed to have been born either at Grenoble or at Lyons, but Aix i ...

Jean-Baptiste van Loo Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French people, French subject and portrait painter. Life and career He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jac ...

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

Charles-André van Loo Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a s ...

, Agostino Ratti, Pietro Bianchi,

Placido Costanzi Placido Costanzi (1702–1759) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Placido Costanzi was born in 1702 to a family of gem-makers in Rome. He was exposed to art at a very young age, and became a pupil of Benedetto Luti and painted m ...

, and

Vieira Lusitano Francisco de Matos Vieira, better known as Vieira Lusitano (4 October 1699 – 13 August 1783) was a Portuguese court painter, illustrator and engraver. Biography His father was a maker of socks and stockings.

Knighthood

In 1720, he was knighted in the

Academy of St Luke The Accademia di San Luca () 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 first ''principe'' or director; ...

of Rome and elected Principe. The appointment was not without controversy, since some:Memorie per servire alla storia della romana Accademia di San Luca
by Melchiorre Missirini, page 203

"could not find anything (of Luti's) worthy of memory for the benefit of the arts. Pascoli's of account Luti, found him a deep intellect, and even more knowledgeable of the works that he draws, although ... because he knew too much and was never satisfied, he oftentimes recycled thoughts and figures: he did not make friends with anyone, and for this reason, when was elected Prince of the Academy, there was not much applause."

The next year he dedicated himself to painting frescoes the cupola of the Church of

Santi Luca e Martina Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus. History The church was initially dedicated to Saint Martina, martyred in 228 AD during the reig ...

in Rome.

Gallery

File:Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland - Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland'' at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, 1712 File:Christ and the Woman of Samaria - Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Christ and the Woman of Samaria'' at the

, 1715–20 File:Benedetto Luti - Head of a Young Girl - WGA13782.jpg, ''Young Girl'' (1717), pastel on paper File:Benedetto Luti - Head of a Young Boy - WGA13781.jpg, ''Young Boy'' (1717), pastel on paper File:Boy with the flute Benedetto Luti (1720).jpg, ''Boy with the flute'' (c. 1720), oil on canvas File:Luti Apollo and Daphne.jpg, ''Apollo and Daphne'', oil on canvas File:Allegoria della Sapienza.jpg, ''Allegory of Wisdom'' File:Rebecca at the well Benedetto Luti.jpg, ''Rebecca at Well'' File:Ajaccio Luti Ste Catherine.JPG, ''St Catherine'', oil on canvas File:Seated Nude Male Figure (recto); Seated Figure (verso) - Benedetto Luti.jpg, Seated Nude Male Figure (recto); Seated Figure (verso)'' at the

References

Sources

* * R. Maffeis, ''Benedetto Luti'': ''l'ultimo maestro'', Firenze, Mandragora, 2012. * S. Sperindei, ''Nuovi spunti di ricerca su Benedetto Luti'', in "Annali della Pontificia Insigne Accademia di Belle Arti e Lettere dei Virtuosi al Pantheon", 14 (2014), pp. 601-612. * G. Sestieri, ''Risarcimenti a Benedetto Luti'', in Studi di storia dell’arte in onore di Fabrizio Lemme, a cura di F. Baldassari, A. Agresti, Roma 2017,pp. 265–276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luti, Benedetto 1666 births 1724 deaths Italian draughtsmen Painters from Florence Italian Baroque painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters 18th-century Italian male artists