Anton Raphael Mengs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1728-03-12)12 March 1728 |
| Died | 29 June 1779(1779-06-29) (aged 51) |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Movement | Neoclassical |
| Children | Anna Maria Mengs |
| Father | Ismael Mengs |
| Relatives | Therese Mengs (sister) Julia Charlotte Mengs (sister) |
Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728[1] – 29 June 1779) was a GermanNeoclassical painter.
Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, atÚstí nad Labem in theKingdom of Bohemia, the son ofIsmael Mengs, a Danish-born painter who eventually established himself atDresden, where the court ofSaxon-Polish electors and kings was. His older sister,Therese Concordia Maron, was also a painter, as was his younger sister,Julia.[2]
His and Therese's births in Bohemia were mere coincidence. Their mother was not their father's wife; Ismael carried on a years-long affair with the family's housekeeper, Charlotte Bormann. In an effort to conceal the births of two illegitimate children, Ismael took Charlotte, under the pretext of "vacations", to the nearest bigger town abroad, Ústí nad Labem (90km upstream of theElbe river). At least in Anton's case, Ismael Mengs took his baby and Charlotte back to Dresden a few weeks after the birth. There they lived for the next 13 years.[3]
In 1741, Ismael moved his family from Dresden to Rome, where he copied in miniature some works of Raphael for the Elector of Saxony, which were intended for Dresden.[4]
In 1749, Anton Raphael Mengs was appointed the first painter toFrederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony, but this did not prevent him from continuing to spend much of his time in Rome. There he married Margarita Guazzi, who had sat for him as a model in 1748. In 1749, Mengs accepted a commission from theDuke of Northumberland to make a copy, in oil on canvas, ofRaphael's frescoThe School of Athens for hisLondon home. Executed in 1752–5, Mengs's painting is full-sized, but he adapted the composition to a rectangular format and added other figures. It is now in the collection of theVictoria and Albert Museum.[5]
He converted toCatholicism, and in 1754 he became director of theVatican painting school.[6] In 1757, Mengs painted a superb fresco on the dome of the church ofSant'Eusebio in Rome. Hisfresco paintingParnassus atVilla Albani gained him a reputation as a master painter.[4]
On two occasions he accepted invitations fromCharles III of Spain to go toMadrid, first in 1761.[4] There he produced some of his best work, most notably the ceiling of the banqueting hall of theRoyal Palace of Madrid, the subject of which was theTriumph ofTrajan and theTemple of Glory. After the completion of this work in 1777, Mengs returned to Rome, where he died two years later, in poor circumstances, leaving twenty children, seven of whom were pensioned by the king of Spain.[7]
Mengs died in Rome in June 1779 and was buried there in theChurch of Santi Michele e Magno.[8]
His portraits and self-portraits show an attention to detail and insight often lost in his grander paintings.[citation needed] His closeness toJohann Joachim Winckelmann[9] has enhanced his historical importance. Mengs came to share Winckelmann's enthusiasm for classical antiquity, and worked to establish the dominance of Neoclassical painting over the then popular Rococo style. At the same time, however, the influence of the Roman Baroque remained strong in his work, particularly in his religious paintings. He would have fancied himself the first neoclassicist, while, in fact, he may be the last flicker of Baroque art.Rudolf Wittkower wrote: "In the last analysis, he is as much an end as a beginning".[10]Goethe regretted that "so much learning should have been allied to a total want of initiative and poverty of invention, and embodied with a strained and artificial mannerism."[11]
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Mengs had a well-known rivalry with the contemporary Italian painterPompeo Batoni. He was also a friend ofGiacomo Casanova. Casanova provides accounts of his personality and contemporary reputation through anecdotes in hisHistoire de ma vie. Among his pupils in Italy wereAnton von Maron (Antonio Maron; (Vienna, 1731- Naples, 1761).[12] His pupils in Spain includedAgustín Esteve,Francisco Bayeu andMariano Salvador Maella.[13]
Besides numerous paintings inMadrid, theAscension andSt Joseph at Dresden,Perseus and Andromeda atSaint Petersburg, and the ceiling of the Villa Albani are among his chief works.[7] ANoli me tangere was commissioned as an altar-piece byAll Souls College, Oxford, and is now held in theNational Gallery, London.[14] Another altar-piece was installed inMagdalen College, Oxford.[6]
Mengs wrote about art in Spanish,Italian, and German. His friendship with Winckelmann notwithstanding, Mengs was little influenced by Winckelmann's ideas; the basis of his extensive writings on art is to be found in the traditional theories that go back toBellori.[15] He reveals an eclectic theory of art that sees perfection as attainable through a well-balanced fusion of diverse excellences: Greek design combined with the expression ofRaphael, thechiaroscuro ofCorreggio, and the colour ofTitian.[7]
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mengs, Antony Raphael".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 129.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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