Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (1737–1795) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the late-

Baroque period The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

. He was a pupil of the painter

Giovanni Agostino Ratti Giovanni Agostino Ratti (1699–1755) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Biography Born in Savona, and active in Genoa, he constructed scenography for the theatre, and cabinets with lively caricatures, which he also engraved. He wa ...

. Born in

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

, he moved to Rome where he befriended

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Early life Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, at Ústí nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the son of Ismael Mengs, a Danish-born painter wh ...

and

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...

. He died in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, where he labored for many years. He added to

Raffaele Soprani Raffaele Soprani (8 January 16122 January 1672) was an Italian nobleman and scholar, mainly known for his volume of biographies of Genoese artists and foreign artists working in Genoa, which remains an important source for historians of Genoese a ...

’s history of Genoese painters: ''Vite de' pittori, scultori ed architetti genovesi'' first published in 1769 in Genoa. He painted an ''Annunciation'' for the church of

Santa Maria delle Vigne Santa Maria delle Vigne is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Genoa, Italy. It was built in the 10th century. The main altar was completed in 1730 by Giacomo Antonio Ponsonelli. The church is also the final resting place of the leading early I ...

in Genoa. He also published ''A Life of Rafael Mengs'', and ''Notices of

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

''. He corresponded with

Luigi Lanzi Luigi Antonio Lanzi (13 June 1732 – 31 March 1810) was an Italian Jesuit priest, known for his writings as an art historian and archaeologist. When he died he was buried in the church of the Santa Croce at Florence by the side of Michelan ...

, providing information regarding the artworks and painters in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

for Lanzi's ''Storia Pittorica dell'Italia''. He was knighted by

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

and made director of the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti. One of his pupils was the portraitist

Raimondo Ghelli Raimondo Ghelli (active second half of 18th century) was an Italian engraver and painter of the 18th-century, active in making portraits. He was a pupil of Giuseppe Ratti in Genoa, and helped engrave many of the portraits for the ''Vite dei pitto ...

.Arte in Ariostera
, short biography.

Works

Writings: * ''Storia de' pittori scultori et architetti liguri e de' forestieri che in Genova operarono'' (1762) * * * ''Notizie Storiche Sincere Intorno La Vita E Le Opere Del Celebre Pittore Antonio Allegri Da Correggio'' (1781) * ''Epilogo della vita del su cavalier Antonio Raffaello Mengs, primo pittor di Camera de Sua Maesta Cattolica'' (1779) Paintings: * ''Birth of the Virgin'', Church of San Giovanni Battista,

* ''Scenes from the Life of Saints Peter and Catherine'', (1782) Oratory of Santissimi Pietro e Caterina, Savona * Decorations in Sala Minore of the Consiglio of Ducal Palace, Genoa * ''Hercules and Cacus'' e ''Ercole vince Atlante'',

Palazzo Rosso The Palazzo Brignole Sale or Palazzo Rosso is a house museum located in Via Garibaldi, in the historical center of Genoa, in Northwestern Italy. The palace is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the P ...

* ''Annunciation'' and ''Trinità e Santi'', Basilica of

, Genoa * ''Scenes from the Life of St Antony Abbott'', Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate,

Mele Mele () is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa, and historically famous for the production of paper. Mele borders the following municipalities: Genoa, Masone ...

* ''Nativity'', Commenda di San Giovanni di Pré

References

* *
Carlo Giuseppe Ratti. Storia de' pittori scultori et architetti liguri e de' forestieri che in Genova operarono, secondo il manoscritto del 1762
', a cura di Maurizia Migliorini, Genova 1997 * * 1737 births 1795 deaths People from Savona 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Genoa Italian art historians Italian Baroque painters Italian neoclassical painters Academic staff of the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti 18th-century Italian male artists Academics from Genoa {{Italy-art-historian-stub