FAMAG 1000.32


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Cipriani, Giovanni Battista RA (1727-1785): Two Putti, oil on paper adhered to wood, 20 cms diameter. Presented by De Pass, Alfred A.

About the frame


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Framed tondo or roundel held in original crescent-shaped panel, supported by two low-relief Neoclassical sphinxes attributed to Michael Angelo Pergolesi, with acanthus and fern-leaf crest; gilded.


About the Artist

Cipriani was born in Florence, where he trained under Ignatius Hugford. In Rome in the early 1750s he met the architect Sir William Chambers and the sculptor Joseph Wilton, who brought him to England in 1756. He taught at the Duke of Richmond's Academy (1758) and became a founder Royal Academician in 1768, teaching at the Royal Academy Schools. Cipriani painted ceilings and lunettes for Robert Adam (for example at the Lansdowne House) and medallions on satinwood furniture, as well as decorating coaches such as the Gold State Coach for George III in 1762. He died in Hammersmith on December 14th 1785.