Andrea
Appiani

"painter of the graces"; he was born in Milan on 23 may 1754, studied the works of great artists in Parma, Bologna and Florence, but especially influenced him and artists of the time: Batoni, and Mengs Albertolli. He visited Rome three times to explore the mystery of Raphael painting alfresco, and soon surpassed in this art all contemporaries. His works (1796) painted in the dome of Sta Maria presso S. Celso, in Milan and on the walls and ceilings of the castle of the Governor of Archduke Ferdinand. Napoleon made him court painter, and because he wrote almost all of the Royal family, a lot. Franz. generals, Ministers etc. his Best works - wall paintings in the Royal Palace in Milan (1808-1812), allegory of the life of Napoleon and "Apollo and Muses" in the Villa Bonaparte. From paintings in oils of the famous "toilet of Juno". Died in Milan on 8 November 1817

Italian painter, draftsman, set designer. Studied at K. M. Giudici, attended the Academy of the Ambrosiana in Milan. Visited Florence (1783-1784), under the influence of John. Trabelsi and M. Knoller, and Bologna, where his attention was attracted by the works of Domenichino. In Rome and Naples he studied painting, and of Raphael Mengs, antique sculpture. In Parma (1795) became acquainted with the paintings of Correggio. From 1792 always worked in Milan. He started as a painter of easel, creating in 1780-1800-e paintings on mythological subjects (the toilet of Juno, Brescia, gallery Tosio-Martinengo; Juno, the Graces, Apollo and Hyacinth, Apollo and Daphne, 1805, all — Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera; the Enraged Hercules, Milan, Ambrosiana gallery). He wrote of paintings on themes from Roman (an Episode from Roman history, Milan, private collection) and contemporary artist of history (Napoleon, giving peace to Europe, Milan, Museum of natural history). In the paintings of allegorical and mythological subjects imitated sfumato and the bright colouring of Correggio, giving the scenes the character is not devoid of imagination, but generally dry on the mood of the idyll in the landscape. Famous painting, Appiani — Apollo's Chariot (1800, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera), compositionally resembling a mural of John. B. Tiepolo in Milan the Palazzo Clerici (the path of the Sun on mount Olympus), marks the stark difference between the art of two eras. It predicts the decline of the great decorative traditions of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the era of the "new classical art", the main essence of which will be the styling.

Appiani, was a highly educated man, who belonged to the circles of the educated intelligentsia of the Lombard. In this environment, he was considered a connoisseur of literature, ancient art, and theater. In Florence and Milan, the artist worked as a set designer, performing on the story of the Myth of Europe a sketch of the curtain for the drama theatre in Milan (1798, Milan, private collection). Appiani, was widely known as a portraitist, has created a series of portraits of his contemporaries — writers, artists, actors, figures of Italian culture (A. Canova, CA. 1790, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera; the Singer Grassini, 1805 approx., Milan, Ambrosiana gallery; Vincenzo Monti, 1805, Rome, NAT. gallery of modern art; the Count of Sommariva, approx. 1805, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara). The artist has created intimate portraits, executed in the Lombard pictorial tradition. Favorite, Appiani combination of white and light blue in the clothes of the model always dedicated smooth cold light in total a few dark tones. In the paintings the Portrait of Ugo Foscolo (1802, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera), self-Portrait (early 1800s, Florence, Uffizi gallery), Caroline Petro-Angeline (1811-1813, Milan, Ambrosiana gallery) the inner emotion of the images, an uneasy blend of light indicate preromanticism trends in the artist.

In 1796, Appiani was appointed by the French authorities as a Commissioner of fine arts Cisalpine Republic. In his charge were the Milan Academy of arts and Pinacoteca di Brera. By order of Napoleon, Appiani he painted portraits and allegories glorifying the genius of the Emperor and his military leaders (Napoleon I, 1803, Bellagio, Como, is a collection of Villa Melzi; General Desault, Versailles, NAT. Museum; Napoleon on the throne with allegories of Peace and Victory, 1806, Moscow, GOS. Museum of fine arts. Of A. S. Pushkin. Since the late 1780s, after visiting Florence, he started working in monumental painting. In the painting of the Rotunda in the Park of the Royal Villa in Monza (1789) on the plot of the story of Cupid and psyche manifested the influence of the graceful Rococo style of John. Traballesi. Frescos were painted in bright monochrome colours. The influence of Domenichino and Correggio noted paintings in the Church of Santa Maria presso San Celso (1792-1795) depicting the four evangelists in the lunettes. The fascination of the artist with the ideals of Neoclassicism shows the fresco Parnassus (1790 — 1807) Royal Villa in Milan (Palazzo Belgiojoso). Compositional structure, sculptural shapes, cold bright coloration it resembles the eponymous work of A. R. Mengs at the Villa Albani. Most important, brought, Appiani famous work was the painting of the Royal Palace in Milan (1808-1812), commissioned by Napoleon's stepson, Prince eugène de Beauharnais. The frescoes of the Throne room (the Apotheosis of the Emperor, Apollo and the muses, Hymen, and the World, Four parts of the world, Vulcan and Minerva are now kept in Tremezzo, Como, Villa Carlotta) in the language grandiloquent allegory, so valued in the era of Empire, glorified Napoleon as the ruler of history, patron of the arts, the wise monarch, in the name of state interests who decided on a second marriage. In the hall of the Caryatids, Appiani wrote in grisaille technique of composition with scenes of the victorious battles of the French army. According to the artist they were executed in a "heroic" spirit of the reliefs of Trajan's column. These paintings, Appiani as his earlier decorative work, was the characteristic art of the Italian Neoclassicism. Appiani, and created graphic works on historical, mythological and allegorical subjects, working primarily in tempera.