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Francesco Bagnara (1784 in
Francesco Bagnara came from a poor family and began work as a decorative room painter. Thanks to the interest of a local noble family (the Angarans), he was able to go to Venice, where he studied with
from the Dizionario Biografico @"Villa Parco Bolasco", University of Padua
/ref>
Beginning in a Neo-Classical style, he gradually adopted
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) 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 Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...
– 21 October 1866 in 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 ...
) was an Italian scenographer
A scenographer or scenic designer, also production designer, is a person who develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term ori ...
, decorator and landscape architect.
Biography
Francesco Bagnara came from a poor family and began work as a decorative room painter. Thanks to the interest of a local noble family (the Angarans), he was able to go to Venice, where he studied with Giuseppe Borsato
Giuseppe Borsato (14 February 1771 in Venice – 15 October 1849 in Venice) was an Italian painter, primarily of vedute. Known for his work as the architect, decorator, and painter to the French Imperial Court in Venice.
Life and works
Born ...
and helped him paint decorations for the .Brief biographyfrom the Dizionario Biografico @
Treccani
Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani ...
. Around 1812, with the financial assistance of the Papadopoli family, he was able to open his own studio. He was later to design the Papadopoli Garden, for Count Spiridione Papadopoli.
His first clients were the and the , and later became the official designer at La Fenice. During this period, he designed sets for several now-famous operas by Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...
.
He also supplied decorations for provincial theaters. Because they generally could not afford full new sets for each production, he created a series of scenarios (about a dozen) that could be easily readapted for the occasion. None of these survive, but albums of watercolor sketches have been preserved at the .
In addition to his theater work, he decorated churches and palaces and designed gardens featuring mounds, lakes, bridges and faux ruins; after the style of Giuseppe Jappelli. His most notable work was at the Giardini Papadopoli, although much of it was later destroyed to create an extension for the bus terminal at the . From 1838 to 1854, he was a Professor of landscaping at the Accademia di Belle Arti. He contributed to the design of the garden at the Villa Parco Bolasco in Treviso./ref>
Beginning in a Neo-Classical style, he gradually adopted Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
. He was known for his lack of concern for historical veracity, once having set in what looked like a Roman forum (instead of an Italian village), for example. Occasionally, he used machines to create theatrical effects; notably at a festival celebrating the coronation of Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...
in 1835. According to his official obituary, he created over 1,100 scenarios.
References
Further reading
* Maria Ida Biggi, ''Francesco Bagnara, scenografo alla Fenice : 1820-1839'', Marsilio, series: ''L'immagine e la scena'', 1996External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnara, Francesco 1784 births 1866 deaths Italian set decorators Italian scenic designers Italian landscape architects People from Vicenza Opera designers Academic staff of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia