Francesco Londonio (Milan, 1723 – Milan, 1783)* was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter, engraver, and scenographer, active mainly in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in a late-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style. Londonio trained as a painter under

Ferdinando Porta Ferdinando Porta (1689–1767) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque. Born in Milan. The engraver Francesco Londonio was one of his pupils. He painted frescoes in the Palazzo Brentano, Corbetta The Palazzo Brentano is a late Baroque palac ...

and

Giovanni Battista Sassi Giovanni Battista Sassi (1679 in Milan – 1762 in Milan) was an Italian painter, active mainly in Milan and other areas of Lombardy, who painted in a late-Baroque and Rococo style. Biography Born in Lombardy, he first trained with Federigo ...

in Milan, but traveled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. He studied engraving with

Benigno Bossi Benigno Bossi (1727–1792) was an Italian engraver, painter, and stucco artist. Life He was born at Arcisate genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

themes was popular among the wealthy patrons of the time, specially in Northern Italy; and artists such as the Brescian painters Ceruti and Cifrondi worked with such themes. In his engravings, he recalls

Gaetano Zompini Gaetano Zompini (25 September 1700 – 20 May 1778) was an Italian printmaker and engraver, known for his prints depicting workers from the lower classes in Venice. Born in Nervesa della Battaglia, he apprenticed with Niccolò Bambini. He als ...

. Londonio is also known for his

scenography Scenography is the practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography can be defined as the combination of technological and material stagecrafts to represent, enact, and produce a sense of plac ...

. An example, of this poorly conserved art form that still exists is a nativity scene on cut wooden shapes for the church of

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...

in Milan. The effect is a cheaper version of the naturalistic

Sacri Monti The (plural of , Italian for "Sacred Mountain") of Piedmont and Lombardy are a series of nine calvaries or groups of chapels and other architectural features created in northern Italy during the late sixteenth century and the seventeenth century ...

scenes, which had been painted

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

statuary. It also can be seen as a cross between the holy scenes described above, and the theatrical set pieces, for example, those needed for the newly founded

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

theater. The work at San Marco prompted Empress Maria Theresa of Austria appointed Londonio as art designer for La Scala.

Sources

* ''Il costume antico e moderno di tutti il populi''. Dottor Giulio Ferrario, edizione secunda, Vincenzo Batelli, 1832, volume ottavo parte terza, Florence * ''Enciclopedia metodica critico-ragionata delle belle arti'' . Part 1, Volume 12, Abate Don Pietro Zani, 1822, Parma, Tipografia Ducale. * ''Art in Northern Italy'' (1911) by Corrado Ricci, Editor: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 184

*
Entry for Londonio at commercial site

Bibliography

* L. Böhm, ″Pittori milanesi del Settecento: Francesco Londonio″, in ''Rivista d'Arte'', XVI, 3, 1934, pp. 229–261. * M. Scola, ''Catalogo ragionato delle incisioni di Francesco Londonio'', Milano 1994 * M. Bona Castellotti, C. Geddo, ''Francesco Londonio (1723-1783)'', exhibition catalogue, Galleria Piva, Milano, 1998. * S. Coppa, C. Geddo, ''Tra Arcadia e Illuminismo in Lombardia: la raccolta di studi di Francesco Londonio'', exhibition catalogue, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano 2002 (Brera mai vista, 4

* C. Geddo, ''Londonio, Francesco'', in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol. LXV, Roma 2005, pp. 610–61

External links

Works by francesco Londonio at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaWorks by Francesco Londonio at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Gallery

Francesco londonio, pastori con capre e pecore.JPG, Shepherds with sheep and goat Milano San Marco Presepe.JPG, Presepe,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Londonio, Francesco 1723 births 1783 deaths Artists from Milan 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian scenic designers Italian painters of animals Italian Baroque painters Italian genre painters Theatre people from Milan 18th-century Italian male artists