Giacomo Boni (28 April 1688 – 7 January 1766) was an Italian painter of the 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 ...

period, active mainly 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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, and became a pupil of

Marcantonio Franceschini Marcantonio Franceschini (; 1648 – 24 December 1729) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mostly in his native Bologna. He was the father and teacher of Giacomo Franceschini.''The picture collector's manual'' by James R. Hob ...

, and later of the painter

Carlo Cignani Carlo Cignani (; 15 May 1628 – 8 September 1719) was an Italian painter. His innovative style referred to as his 'new manner' introduced a reflective, intimate mood of painting and presaged the later pictures of Guido Reni and Guercino, as well ...

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

. He returned and followed Franceschini to Genoa, then Crema,

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, Lavino di Mezzo,

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, and then

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, ...

. He painted canvases for chapels in the church of San Filippo Neri in Genoa, and frescoes for their oratory chapter house. In Crema, he painted for the Chiesa del Carmine. In Piacenza, he painted in the church of

Santa Maria del Popolo The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo () is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in b ...

. He returned to Genoa in 1726, where he painted alongside

Tommaso Aldrovandini Tommaso Aldrovandini (21 December 1653 – 23 October 1736) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He mainly painted perspective views and architectural subjects (quadratura), in which the figures were painted by Marcantonio Franc ...

in the Palazzo Durazzo. He painted the choir of

San Pancrazio The basilica of San Pancrazio (; ) is a Catholic minor basilica and titular, conventual, and parish church founded by Pope Symmachus in the 6th century in Rome, Italy. It stands in via S. Pancrazio, westward beyond the Porta San Pancrazio tha ...

for the noble family of the Pallavicini. He also painted in the Palazzo Mari and in many others; and frescoed the vault of the oratory of Santa Maria della Costa, at

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

. In a chapel of

San Giovanni Evangelista San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Ravenna, Italy. It was built in the fifth century AD by the Roman imperial princess Galla Placidia "in fulfilment of a vow made by her to S. John Evangelist, when, on her way from Constantinople to Ravenna ...

in Parma he painted alongside Giuseppe Carpi. Lanzi speaks of ''Jacopo Boni'' working as an assistant to Franceschini in decorating the great hall of the Palazzo Pubblico. Among his pupils were Lorenzo Brusco (died 1763), Giuseppe Comotti, and Giuseppe Rossi (illuminator) (died 1796).Casalis, page 729.

References

* * 1688 births 1766 deaths Painters from Bologna 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Painters from Genoa Italian Baroque painters 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-17thC-stub