Details

Name

Vincenzo Camuccini

Brief Biography

1771–1844, Italian

Occupation

Painter

Description

Camuccini was the leading exponent of Neoclassical painting in early nineteenth-century Rome. As a young man he was attracted to the classical severity of foreign painters such as Anton Raphael Mengs, Gavin Hamilton and Jacques-Louis David, in reaction against the prevailing late baroque. His artistic education also included a close study of the monuments of Ancient Rome, under the guidance of the eminent archaeologist Ennio Quirino Visconti. His elder brother Pietro (1761–1833), also a painter but more active as a dealer, introduced Vincenzo to a number of important collectors and dilettanti, most notably the Earl-Bishop of Bristol and Derry. When Camuccini was only 16 Bristol commissioned from him a copy of Raphael’s 'Entombment', and in 1793 and 1802 he went on to commission two of the largest and most important paintings of his career: the 'Death of Julius Caesar' and the 'Death of Virginia' (both Capodimonte, Naples). Thereafter Camuccini’s career was blessed with every official recognition: from 1806 to 1810 he served as Principal of the Accademia di San Luca; in 1814 he became Superintendent of the Apostolic Palaces, and was later put in charge of reorganising the Vatican collections; and in 1830 he was created Baron by Pope Pius VII. In his later career Camuccini ran a large workshop in the Palazzo Cesi, and enjoyed a huge international reputation.