Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (Venice 1675-1741)

Born in Venice in 1675, Pellegrini received his training in the workshop of Paolo Pagani, with whom he traveled to Moravia and Vienna in 1690. In 1704, he was back in Venice, where he married Angela Carriera, the sister of the celebrated Grand Tour pastel portraitist, Rosalba. Four years later Pellegrini departed for London at the behest of Charles Montagu, the British Ambassador to Venice and later 1st Duke of Manchester. There he designed theater sets and executed decorative paintings in, among others, Burlington House and Castle Howard. Pellegrini's successful entry into England's artistic circles was confirmed in 1711, when he became a founder-member and director of the country's first school for art, Godfrey Kneller's Academy in Great Queen Street. He subsequently travelled to France, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, returning to Venice by 1735, where he remained for the rest of his life. This painting can be dated to after his departure from Venice, and was probably executed in either England or Germany.