Anton Raphel Mengs
Born – Aussig, Germany 1728
Died – Rome, Italy 1779
Mengs established a prodigious reputation when he was taken to Rome in 1741 and made Court Painter at Dresden in 1745. However, it was not until he had met and absorbed the theories of his friend Johann Winckelmann that he achieved acclaim as the leading exponent of Neoclassicism. This attribution is now in doubt. However, the importance of his influence remains undisputed. Meng’s treatise on Beauty in Painting was published in 1762, only for it to be plagiarized and published in 1760 by an Englishman, Daniel Webb. He is best known for his ceiling painting Parnassus (1761) at the Villa Albini Rome. Breaking away from the illusionism of the Baroque, the surface is treated as in relief, with drawings after the Antique, and if seen from the spectator’s eye-level. Other frescoes include those for the Royal Palaces in Madrid, which Mengs made as Court Painter to Charles III; in this medium he was soon to be surpassed by Tiepolo. His portraits are perhaps more memorable. Maria Amalia of Saxony is a typical example of his eloquent, straightforward approach to the depiction of individual characters.
Masterpieces:
- Maria Luisa of Parma
- Parnassus
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.