Michelangelo Palloni (1637—1712) was an Italian painter of the

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, who worked in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

from 1674 onward. Palloni was born at

Campi Bisenzio Campi Bisenzio () is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence. History The word Campi in the municipality's name stems from the fields which are widespread in t ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Biography

Palloni studied art in

and was a pupil of

Baldassare Franceschini Baldassare Franceschini, called Il Volterrano after his birth place Volterra and, to distinguish him from Daniele da Volterra, Ricciarelli, Il Volterrano Giuniore (16116 January 1689) was an Italian late Baroque painter and draughtsman active p ...

(''Il Volterrano'').Hobbes, JR. p92. Here he began his career, creating several

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s and

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

. In 1676, he came to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

at the invitation of the Grand Hetman of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

Michał Kazimierz Pac Michał Kazimierz Pac (; – 4 April 1682) was a nobleman and prominent military leader of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and of one the most influential members of the magnate Pac family. Educated by Jesuits and Mikołaj Krzysztof "the ...

. From 1676 to 1685 Palloni worked in Pažaislis, where he decorated the

Pažaislis Monastery Monastery Pažaislis Monastery and the Church of the Visitation (, ) form the largest monastery complex in Lithuania, and the most renowned example of Baroque architecture in the country. The church is the most marble-decorated Baroque church of ...

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona () are a Catholic Church, Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded by Romuald, St. Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage () in Camaldoli, high in the mountains of Tuscany, ...

Church. He painted more than 100 frescoes in the church and created

easel painting An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, painters traditionally use an easel to support a painting while they work on it, normally stan ...

s. From 1685 Palloni worked in the

Krasiński Palace The Krasiński Palace (), also known as the Palace of the Commonwealth (), is a reconstructed Baroque palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Krasiński Square (''Plac Krasińskich''). Initially erected between 1677 and 1683 for the powerful Krasiński f ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, and in 1688 he was appointed

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to the King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

. In the same year, Palloni decorated the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1677 and 1696 for the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski according to a design by architect Augustyn ...

and the Camaldolese Church in

Bielany Bielany () is a district in Warsaw located in the north-western part of the city. Initially a part of Żoliborz, Bielany has been an independent district since 1994. Bielany borders Żoliborz to the south-east, and Bemowo to the south-west. Its ...

. Later he worked for Polish and Lithuanian noble families in Warsaw,

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

and

Węgrów Węgrów (; ) is a town in eastern Poland with 12,796 inhabitants (2013), capital of Węgrów County in the Masovian Voivodeship. History First mentioned in historical records in 1414, Węgrów received its city charter in 1441. Between 16th ...

. In 1692 Palloni painted frescoes in the Chapel of Saint Casimir in

Vilnius Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius, also known as Vilnius Cathedral is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints ...

. He also painted frescoes in the chapel of the missionary seminary in

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

around 1695 and in the parish church in

in 1710, which is likely to be his final work. Many of Palloni's works have not survived, including the frescoes, painted around 1692, in the Sapieha Palace commissioned by the Grand Hetman of Lithuanian

Kazimierz Jan Sapieha Kazimierz Jan Paweł Sapieha (; 1637–1720) was a grand hetman of Lithuania commencing in 1682. In 1681, he became Field Hetman of Lithuania, the following year he also became the voivode of Vilnius. He held the title of duke starting in 1700. ...

, in Vilnius. The works are characteristic of the

style: complex poses of figures, various angles, expressive, emotional gestures, and virtuoso rendering of draperies; he used illusionistic painting techniques and architectural backgrounds. Palloni's work had a great influence on Lithuanian painting of the late 17th-18th centuries.

Major works

Frescoes and paintings in: *

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* The Open and Closed Galleries of

(1688), Warsaw, Poland * Chapel of St. Casimir in

(1692), Lithuania *

Sapieha Palace in Vilnius Sapieha Palace (, ) is a High Baroque palace in Sapiegos str., Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the only surviving palace of several formerly belonging to the Sapieha family in the city. The palace is surrounded by the remains of t ...

, Lithuania *Churches in

(1695) and in

(1706–08), Poland

References

1637 births 1712 deaths People from Campi Bisenzio Italian Baroque painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 18th-century Italian painters Court painters of Polish kings Italian expatriates in Poland Painters from Florence Place of death unknown 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-17thC-stub