Francesco Coghetti (12 July 1801 – 20 April 1875) was an Italian painter and art school administrator.

Biography

Coghetti was born to a wealthy family which enabled him to be educated at prestigious private schools. After completing his primary studies, he enrolled at the

Accademia Carrara The Accademia Carrara, (), officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, is an art gallery and an academy of fine arts in Bergamo, in Lombardy in northern Italy. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by , a Bergamasco collecto ...

, where he studied with

Giuseppe Diotti Francesco Giuseppe Antonio Diotti (1 March 177930 January 1846) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassicism, Neoclassic style. He was strongly influenced by the academic styles of both Gaspare Landi and Vincenzo Camuccini. He painted in fresco as ...

. In 1818, he won the Accademia's drawing competition. In 1820, he moved to Milan. The following year, he won an award for drawing and design from the

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan's main public mu ...

. This encouraged him to move to Rome and, thanks to his father's financial support, he was able to study with

Vincenzo Camuccini Vincenzo Camuccini (22 February 1771 – 2 September 1844) was an Italian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. He was considered the premier academic painter of his time in Rome. Biography Early life and education Camuccini was born in Rome, ...

. He also enjoyed the patronage of Cardinal

Angelo Mai Angelo Mai (''Latin'' Angelus Maius; 7 March 17828 September 1854) was an Italian Cardinal and philologist. He won a European reputation for publishing for the first time a series of previously unknown ancient texts. These he was able to discov ...

, who was a fellow Bergamaschi. In 1825, he was married. The 1830s were a very successful time for him, during which he won several awards and received a continual flow of commissions from all over Europe. In 1844, he was offered the position of Director at the

Academy of San Carlos An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

in Mexico City, but declined to accept. Fourteen years later, faced with declining commissions, he accepted a position as President 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 the late 1860s, he became involved in politics as well as art, when preparations were being made for the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

to be annexed to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. The Accademia was considered to be part of the Pope's temporal domain and was transformed into the "Royal Academy". It was a difficult process and, because he had already come under criticism for his performance in office, he was relieved of his teaching duties in 1873 and suspended as President. Two years later, he died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

, on 20 April 1875.

Works

Among his works are: *Two altar-pieces at the

. *Several frescoes for the Palazzo Morlachi in Bergamo. *Frescoes in the cupola of the Bergamo Cathedral. *''Scenes from the Life of Alexander''. ''The Four Elements''. ''The Triumph of Bacchus''. ''The Battle of the Amazons''; frescoes (1837–1839), now lost, for the Villa Torlonia, Rome. *''The Assumption'' for a church in

Porto Maurizio Porto (), also known in English as Oporto, is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipalit ...

. *Ceiling frescoes of angels and prophets; ''Julius II lays the first stone of the St. Peter's Basilica'' and ''Sixtus IV blesses armies fighting Turks'', and ''Christ clears moneylenders from the temple'' (Presbytery); (1846–1849) for the Cathedral 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 ...

. *''Pope Eugene III blesses the armies of Amadeo II leaving for a crusade'' commissioned by Queen Maria Cristina in 1846 for the castle of Aglié. *''Martyrdom of St. Lawrence'' (Sacristy) and ''St Stephen Martyrdom'' (chapel) for

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (, ) is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the Lateran, Saint Peter's, and Saint Mary Major, as well as one of the city’s Seven Pilgrim Ch ...

in 1853. *'' Caesar Crossing the Rubicon'' (1857) stage curtain for

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

's Teatro Nuovo *''Hannibal defeated under the Walls of Spoleto'' (1861) stage curtain for

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

Notes

References

Entry in Treccani Italian Encyclopedia
Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coghetti, Francesco 1801 births 1875 deaths Painters from Bergamo 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian portrait painters Religious artists 19th-century Italian male artists Painters from the Austrian Empire