Mother And Child By Bartolozzi After Cipriani, Engraving

Francesco Bartolozzi was born in Florence on September 25, 1727, the son of a goldsmith from that city. After a three-year apprenticeship in painting with Domenico Ferretti, he found that he was more attracted to engraving and left for Venice to perfect his art. From 1745 to 1751 he worked in Venice in the workshop of Joseph Wagner (1706-1780). He moved for a short time to Rome where he produced a series of engravings representing frescoes at Grottaferrata by Domenichino, illustrating the Life of Saint Nilus. Then, in 1764, invited by Richard Dalton, art seller and bookseller to the king, he moved to London where he was appointed engraver to George III. He remained there for more than forty years and, thanks to the improvement of a new French technique, known as “red chalk” (gesso rosso) based on hematite and kaolin, he reproduced with talent the famous portraits of the royal collection, those of Hans Holbein the Younger, Italian painters and his friend Giovanni Cipriani. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy (RA) on 10 December 1768, before also co-founding the Society of Engravers in 1802. He then left London for Lisbon in 1802 where he was appointed director of the National Academy until 'in 1815, the year of his death. Our work was published in 1768 by John Boydell. A slight tear at the top left which stops at the stroke of the board.