Francesco Bartolozzi

1728 Florence – 1815 Lissabon

The painter and engraver, Francesco Bartolozzi, was trained at the Florence Academy, where he attended painting and drawing classes given by Ignazio Hugford. In 1748 he became a member and shareholder of the studio run by Giuseppe Wagner in Venice. Six years later he opened his own studio and launched a successful career as a publisher. After a brief sojourn in Rome in 1764 Bartolozzi went to London the same year at the invitation of Richard Dalton, who was librarian to George III. Here he immersed himself in new techniques, such as the crayon manner which had been developed shortly beforehand in France. Bartolozzi’s works enjoyed great success in London, as a consequence of which he became a member of the Society of Artists a year after his arrival in the city and a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts a little later. He soon had up to fifty assistants working for him at his flourishing studio. Bartolozzi became especially famous for his innovative stipple etchings, of which he left what is probably the world’s largest oeuvre.